Winkworth is calling for the government to take immediate action to fix the property market. 

With the Conservative Party Conference set to get underway in Manchester this weekend, the estate agency’s chief executive Dominic Agace says the government should focus on three areas to boost activity in the housing market. 

He wants to see a stop to internal battles around housing delivery and focus on building more homes by providing more resources for planning. He also wants the government to make it easier for first-time buyers to move on by introducing incentives for downsizers to create a more fluid property market, as well as introduce urgent measures to increase supply in the private rented sector by bringing back mortgage interest relief for landlords. 

On the latest episode of Winkworth’s The Property Exchange podcast, Agace said: “The most acute structural problem is in the rental sector. It has become caught up in electioneering. We are seeing rent rises in London of 15 per cent this year, with 10% forecast next year. The lack of supply is caused by increased intervention by the government and tax changes.

“A healthy rental sector is crucial to the success of a city to attract young professionals. We are hearing stories of families squeezing into smaller properties because that’s all they can afford. We need people to be able to be where they need to live for work in a place that’s suitable for them. There is a move towards build to rent properties, which are institutionally owned, but these are not available yet to meet the current demand. We need the government to take some quick action and reverse the tax measures to encourage landlords.” 

He added: “In-fighting has caused housing targets to disappear, manifesto pledges of 300,000 homes a year and national planning frameworks have all been watered down. Local authorities have been hollowed out through a lack of investment, with planning officers regional rather than local. Complex legislation, which leads to a longer planning process all results in delays to more home building. We need to simplify to allow more access locally to build more suitable properties.” 

Adam Stackhouse, Winkworth’s managing director of developments and commercial investments, told the podcast that a planning enforcement team should be introduced immediately to increase supply.

He commented: “A joint team from the private and public sectors could be parachuted into local authorities to fix these problems, with a 90-day turnaround time, to look at planning applications stuck on the shelf. The government should deliver incentives that offer up a fair land value. Housebuilders don’t like sitting on land, they like to build. There is also an incredible shortfall in the social housing sector, with only 33,000 properties constructed in recent years, with a waiting list of more than a million.” 

Business rate reform, with a process for revaluation for smaller businesses has been mooted by Labour – a smart move, according to Stackhouse.

He continued: “This can be based on a regional grading so that businesses in more deprived areas have a greater chance of success. Moving the tax burden on to online retailers is a very wise move.”  

Stackhouse also highlighted the need for more investment in towns and cities to address the decline in retail.

He added: “We need to bring activity to city centres that isn’t just focused on a quick fix of a few more restaurants and nightclubs. We need more residential in town centres. We need small medical centres, more green open spaces, workshops, colleges and a mix of housing tenures so there are retired people with disposable income around during the working day. Swansea is a good example. They’ve secured funding, they’ve used experts in planning and they’ve spent nearly a quarter of a billion pounds recently, on an entertainment venue, an arena for conferences, hotels, and restaurants and people are now flocking to Swansea.” 

To tune into the latest episode of The Property Exchange, click here.