Rachel Reeves is being urged to introduce “radical and credible” reforms for the UK housing market in her Budget this autumn, or risk continued stagnation.
In an open letter to the chancellor, property financier Daniel Austin, CEO and co-founder at ASK Partners, outlines a series of recommendations to boost the market and tackle the ongoing shortage of homes.
Austin writes: “The housing market has been stagnant for much of this year, with developers, investors, and consumers adopting a cautious ‘wait and see’ approach. This uncertainty is exacerbated by piecemeal policy signals without clarity, risking further paralysis over the coming months.”
He continues: “Your commitment to 300,000 homes per year is welcome, but insufficient. This target has existed since 2004 and has never been met. Capital Economics estimates we now need at least 385,000 new homes annually. Since 1970, France has built nearly twice as many homes as the UK despite similar population growth.”
Austin calls for the government to empower SME housebuilders, reform the planning system, boost construction skills, prioritise social housing delivery, incentivise brownfield development, and attract greater investment.
“Planning delays remain the number one barrier for investors and developers, creating uncertainty and inflating costs,” he writes. “The system is paralysed by political conflicts of interest, with councils deterred from being pro-development. We propose independent decision-making to remove these conflicts, alongside greater private sector involvement to clear backlogs swiftly.”
Austin also warns of labour shortages and skills gaps, stating: “Post-Brexit labour shortages continue to hamper the sector, with small contractor teams unable to meet demand efficiently. Policies to drive off-site construction would boost productivity, attract younger and more diverse talent, and reduce build times and costs.”
Austin emphasises the need for prioritising social housing and simplifying compulsory purchase order processes, arguing that “the net loss of 200,000 social homes over the past decade has deepened the crisis. Councils need genuine powers and incentives to deliver social housing at scale.”
On investment, the letter notes that “91% of private investors are keeping their real estate allocations over the next 12 months”. Austin adds: “If supported by clear, investor-friendly policies, this capital could be channelled efficiently towards development and infrastructure expansion.”
The letter concludes with a warning that “delaying clarity risks prolonging stagnation”.
Austin writes: “We urge you to deliver decisive reforms and targeted stimulus to restore confidence, unlock supply, and drive the economic growth the UK urgently needs. Investors, developers, and communities stand ready to support this agenda if you provide the framework for them to do so.”
The last boom wasn’t policy genius – it was “feel-good economics” and ultra-low rates. Cheap money made borrowing almost free, so asset prices ballooned. Now rates are 500% higher and the maths is brutal: higher financing costs kill margins, yields don’t stack, and land values must fall. Investors holding allocations aren’t buying – they’re waiting for the reset.
Add in the post-Brexit labour exodus and a shortage of skills, and it’s clear: these are the unintended consequences of cheap borrowing and patriotism. You can’t legislate away GCSE economics . Until borrowing costs drop or land values adjust, 300,000 homes a year is pure fantasy. It’s not confidence – it’s maths.
And let’s be honest: developers don’t have a crisis, they have options. They can sit on land and wait for conditions to improve, because time costs them less than building at a loss. The housing crisis is Rachel’s problem, the country’s problem, and a generational problem – not theirs
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register
Its all very well getting the houses built – but who’s going to buy them? Unless they’re going to change the social housing system massively, they’re going to need investors to buy them to rent out. The mortgage rate increases have wiped out a lot of BTL landlords’ profits. They need to look at incentivising the PRS instead of demonising all landlords as rich fat cats. Re-introducing Tax relief on mortgage payments would be a start.
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register
The thing is, private landlords are the bane of HMRC and government because they complicate the tax landscape – and they’re competition for institutional investors who want the Build-to-Rent model to dominate. The bigger issue? Government has spent years trying to empathise with renters who see landlords as fat cats, and that narrative fuels anti-landlord sentiment. The irony is most landlords aren’t cashing in – they’re just providing homes for people who can’t, or choose not to, provide for themselves.
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register
Here if Cornwall the whole county is just one huge building site. The Duchy are building a whole new town with 4,000 homes. Definitely no shortage of purchasers even though our wages are very low. He have seen an influx of families from our cities and working from home has made this possible. Our infrastructure is suffering but this problems is nationwide. Developments are for sale only with just 5% at affordable rent. Even our local council through a building company they own only build homes for sale. It would appear that no one can afford to build social housing anymore and private developers are loathe to build to rent. Our local housing assoc. did build a small estate of lovely new homes, in less than one year some windows were boarded up and the gardens overgrown and strewn with rubbish. Build to rent are only interested in high rent areas with high rental yields.
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register