"We still need to see the delivery of affordable homes for rent and for sale in those areas where most people want to live, as well as protections for those who choose longer-term rental."
Kate Davies, executive director of IMLA, commented: “Back in 2007 Gordon Brown promised a 20% increase in the house-building programme – and that his Government would deliver 3m more houses by 2020. In 2015 David Cameron promised a more modest 200,000 starter homes – but whilst sites were acquired and funds spent, not one single starter home was ever actually built. In 2017 Teresa May’s new Government promised to fix our broken housing market – acknowledging that we needed between 225,000 and 275,000 new homes every year “to keep up with population growth and start to tackle years of under-supply.” The Conservative Party manifesto of 2019 promised to build “at least 1m new homes over the next Parliament.”
“Without wishing to appear unduly curmudgeonly, I think most commentators could be forgiven for reacting to the latest Government announcement by saying “we’ve heard it all before”. The announcement of a new planning bill aimed at helping to better designate land for development should be a positive step in the right direction towards building more homes in the UK – but we’ve had so many steps and promises in the past - all of which have led to – relatively little. Successive Governments have struggled to hit their building targets and recent research from Shelter suggests we may not do so until 2032. That is before we factor in the delays caused by Covid-19.
“Having said that, the coronavirus crisis has reset so much about our everyday lives, and the Government has made clear its desire to ‘build back better’. Implementing an effective housing strategy could play a big part in doing just that. There is a great opportunity for Boris Johnson’s Government to be the first in nearly 20 years to make a real difference and deliver on its promises to address the current issues facing the housing market. The big challenge will lie in whether it can take a sufficiently long-term strategic view of what needs to be done, and set in motion projects that will not be fully delivered until after the life of this Parliament and these politicians.”
Jeremy Leaf, north London estate agent and former RICS residential chairman, said: "The government seems to have finally recognised what we have noticed for many years – that is, the strong connection between home ownership and rental with political allegiance. The government seems to want to help both groups; on the one hand, advocating reform of the planning system which would speed up delivery of new homes, while on the other, helping tenants to avoid no-fault evictions and benefit from lifetime deposits, making moves between properties less expensive.
"However, with all these announcements the devil is always in the detail. We don’t know yet how these reforms will be enacted so it is difficult to comment specifically until more information is to hand. In particular, we still need to see the delivery of affordable homes for rent and for sale in those areas where most people want to live, as well as protections for those who choose longer-term rental. Such measures can only benefit longer-term economic recovery."
Naveen Jaspal, COO of online estate agent Emoov, added: “The neighbourhood planning system in England will be a great thing for the property market. In order to build more housing, which as a country, we desperately need, it currently takes a long time, and a lot of that time is taken up by waiting for planning. In some areas, you can be waiting 3-6 months to hear back from planning councils as they are running so far behind on processing the applications. It will speed up the process which has been one of the biggest issues in the marketplace at the moment.
"I fully support the idea of the zoning systems as opposed to the slow case by case way it is done now. It will definitely be the way to move forward and a better way to invest in the infrastructure of communities. As long as it is administered in an effective way, it would really bring a lot of value to local communities, especially where there is space and need for housing.”
Rachael Griffin, tax and financial planning expert at Quilter, concluded: “Last summer, the government declared the UK’s planning system was no longer ‘fit for purpose’ and announced proposals to ‘tear it down’ and ‘start again’. The White Paper published set out a series of measures to make it easier, quicker and cheaper for individuals to get planning permission for an extension, conversion or rebuild. Today the government announced more detail by announcing a new Planning Bill to create a faster and more modern planning system.”
“We know that the property market has been running very hot this past year, with vast swathes of the population moving home to take advantage of the stamp duty holiday so the next few years could see a building boom, which will most likely require a serious conversation about financial planning."
