Yesterday’s Budget contained no surprises and was relatively underwhelming in terms of announcements on matters that will immediately affect the residential property market. For that we should look forward to the Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee meeting on November 4th when an interest rate rise is almost certain to be agreed.
A £1.8 billion fund for delivery of up to 160,000 new homes on brownfield sites (often expensive to decontaminate) and a £2bn tax on the most profitable developers (and why not the architects, planners, building control departments who specified/authorised these claddings?) to assist with the remediation of dangerous cladding, was about the sum total of items of direct interest to the property industry that came out of the Chancellor’s red box – or rather, had already come out of the red box.
In an unsual diversion from normal procedures, just before being called to speak, Rishi Sunak had his knuckles rapped by the Deputy Speaker for the fact that details of the Budget have been released to the media in preceding days – something that would have led to his dismissal or resignation in times long gone by. Among those already announced items was the commitment of £65m for the reform and digitisation of the planning process.
As ever, the detail and the plans for implementation of the headline announcements will take time to become clear and naturally there was mixed reaction among commentators.
Dominic Agace, chief executive of Winkworth:
“The Chancellor’s announcement that funds are being put into fixing unsafe cladding, is a vital move to help first time buyers, who have been stuck in their properties unable to sell them and facing crippling costs.
“The resolution of this has to be a priority, to open up a section of the housing market where people have been unable to mortgage the property and release those looking to move up the ladder.
“We just hope that this move is enough to cover the scale of the problem.”
Raoul Veevers, head of planning at Cluttons:
“The confirmation of the £1.8bn fund to support the development of more sustainable brownfield land for 1m homes is welcomed, even if this only works out at just under £12k per property.
“This will hopefully be achieved in conjunction with significant public transport funding to boost the accessibility of these locations, which will possibly address at least one of reasons why this land has not been developed to date.
“There is of course some scepticism as to how house builders have not been able to unlock these sites before now, but digitisation will make it easier to identify this land and its potential across the UK.
“Fundamentally we need these homes to be built in the right locations with the appropriate supporting infrastructure.”
Mary-Anne Bowring, group managing director at leading property management consultancy, Ringley Group:
“A blanket tax on developers is fairer than leaving leaseholders to shoulder the burden but it is still a blunt instrument to use to fix the cladding crisis.
“Fundamentally, accountability should fall squarely on those who overlooked the potential hazards of unsafe cladding in the first place.
“That those responsible should cover the costs of what is ultimately a multi-billion pound myriad of mistakes is an obvious resolution to anyone, and it’s frankly bizarre that we’re still debating this when recent fire safety legislation provided the perfect opportunity to protect vulnerable leaseholders.
“Instead, those most affected are more unclear than ever as to their obligations, or who to turn to, and are increasingly sidelined in discussions about fire and building safety.
“Replacing unfit cladding systems continues to eat away at the Building Safety Fund at an alarming rate of £30m a month, and these allocations only cover high-risk buildings.
“Empowering leaseholders and occupiers with a voice should be at the forefront of future Government action.”
Alex Rose, Director of New Homes at Zoopla:
“With the scarcity of homes and the imbalance of supply and demand set to continue well into 2022, the government’s pledge of £1.8 billion in funding to help deliver 160,000 new homes on brownfield land can certainly be viewed as a positive.
“However, with £300 million of this funding designated to metro mayors and councils to unlock smaller brownfield sites for housing, it is unclear how the balance of the funding will be allocated.
“With housebuilders often viewing brownfield sites as a less attractive option due to risks like contamination, it remains to be seen how far this investment will stretch in practice.”
Hugh Gibbs, co-founder of SearchLand:
“While we welcome the Chancellor’s commitment to increase housebuilding, what’s needed now, more than ever, is a seismic shift in our outdated and ineffective planning system, which continues to be a threat to housebuilders’ ability to deliver new homes.
“A £65 million pledge to help digitise the planning system might seem like a positive step, but given the scale and complexity of the task, as well as this Government’s track record with digitisation projects, is enough emphasis being placed on this issue given its immense importance?”
Jordan Rosenhaus, CEO at Goldman Sachs-backed modular housing firm TopHat:
“The Government’s new £1.8 billion brownfield fund proves that sweeping planning reforms are anything but dead under Gove. Today’s announcement proves that ministers still see the benefit of redeveloping vacant or derelict sites to bring new investment into areas and increase housing delivery.
“The Treasury reckons that 160,000 homes could be built on brownfield land across the UK. However, if anything, these estimations are too conservative.
“Either way the Government is rightly providing an opportunity for developers to transform neglected urban spaces. What’s more, the transport infrastructure often required for new housing developments already exists on most brownfield sites, bringing down capital costs and accelerating construction programmes.”
Nick Sanderson, Audley Group CEO:
“The Treasury announcing 160,000 greener homes on brownfield sites again shows that the Government is totally missing the point when it comes to the issues in the housing market.
“They have no drive to address the root cause of the issue and this will once again do nothing but paper over the cracks, allowing a broken system to remain broken.
“In today’s Budget there is no detail on the types of houses the Government want to see built, yet that’s the real question that needs to be addressed. We have enough homes. That’s never been the problem.
“The Government’s focus has to shift to specialist housing, and fast. This will both free up homes, while simultaneously taking pressure of stretched care services. It’s never going to be greener to build more, when the solution is to build smart.”
Is this guy on Planet Fruitcake?
Nick Sanderson – CEO of Audley Group says “We have enough homes. That’s never been the problem”.
Where has this guy been for the last 20 years? If he really believes this, it’s fair to say the lunatics have taken over the asylum.
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There’s a real Generation X frustration that Boomers and the Silent Generation are blocking all the aspirational forever homes- The specialist housing is park homes where empty nesters are corralled into Heaven’s waiting room.
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Yes when I am old I should leave my detached house that a FTB would not be able to afford and move into a park home
I will consider that
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Specialist housing should include thousands more houses to built by local authorities who can identify needs in their areas best and for rental only with no right to buy; opening up the thousands of empty flats above shops which used to be accommodation and could be again which are well located in town centres minimising travelling needs and therefore an environmentally friendly move; and starting to build decent bungalows again (for which there is proven demand) to encourage the elderly to move out of their large, old homes and release them onto the market.
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“Encourage the elderly to move out of their homes” I have always wanted to hear how that works from someone who advocates it. What’s the pitch?
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We should redefine “Green Belt” to mean Green Built.
I value our green and pleasant land, but we are over protective. Irony and hypocrisy rules and it is not uncommon for those that object to planning are the same people that live on land that was green and pleasant.
For the benefit of my children and others from the fruit of their loins, far more homes need to be built; but not in my life time as that would effect the value of my house. I did say hypocrisy rules!
Only really posting to show I have provided my mobile number; I see postings are far lower today, although that could simply be the stories are of little interest!
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Was it difficult to get a burner SIM Bosky?
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We have too many people
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Looking forward to you driving an HGV when we get rid of a few more people.
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