Chancellor Rachel Reeves has strengthened the government’s dedication to ‘getting Great Britain again’, while she has delivered her spring statement today.
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Predictions of the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) show that government planning reforms mean that housing will reach a 40-year-old high with 1.3 million houses that will be built in the next five years.
The Chancellor said that this was ‘at a moving distance’ of the 1.5 million target for new houses that the government had promised in his election manifesto.
But apart from the prediction of housing, today’s statement had little else to offer first buyers and homeowners.
This is as a blow to many people who are currently the process of buying a house that hoped for a U-turn Stamp Duty Tax increases, that will come into force on April 1.
Nevertheless, and with a lack of housing to the root causes of the home crisis, the reports of the OBR were welcomed.
Jeremy Leaf, broker in North Londs and a former RICS residential chairman, said: “Our first wish was granted -the Chancellor did not do much or anything to deter existing activities on the housing market.
“The first way to deal with a problem is to acknowledge it and the government seems to realize that there is a housing crisis. It is generally accepted that affordable homes in particular are insufficient and improving planning makes an important contribution to that goal.
“Rachel Reeves said that it is too slow, so the extra financing announced yesterday in the social and affordable housing program is good news, although we still need more detail about where, when and how those kicks will be in the ground.”
Need more help for first buyers
Others, while they applaud the prognoses of housing, found the government further with their reforms.
Jonathan Stinton, head of mortgage relationships at Coventry Building Society, said: ‘It is now important to let it happen quickly. We have been in the first target of 1.5 million houses for a year – now we have to see that more houses are actually being built, not only obligations are repeated.
“Home construction is crucial for tackling the housing crisis, and although plans and goals determine the direction that counts. We need projects that take place on a scale and pace to meet the demand – there is still a long way to go, and the focus must now convert promises to the people they need.”
Felicity Barnett, Lender Operations Manager at MortGage Advice Bureau, said that more should be done to help buyers finance the houses, especially first buyers.
“More emphasis needs to be placed on the first buyer market,” she said. “As an industry, we now have to work as a collective to lower the current average first buyer -age of 35+, giving them more accessible, affordable options in their twenties to get on the real estate ladder.
“In particular, there must be a clear shift in stimulating the number of transporters of the tenants to become buyers for the first time. These are potential homeowners who are currently trapped due to strict affordability criteria.
To begin with, more could be done at the government level to fully realize the true potential of the shared ownership, but this will still not be enough to achieve housing goals.
‘We are waiting with held breath to see how the FCA proposals Relax the rules for mortgage loans develop in the coming months. “