The Conservative Party’s policies seem to be most in-tune with the needs of first-time buyers, according to new analysis from the Halifax.
The lender’s ‘generation rent’ report contains data from over 40,000 20-45 year olds and 4,000 parents with children aged between 20-45.
It shows that while five of the top nine policies were from the Conservative Parrty, which won a surprise majority, the top rated policy was put forward by the Liberal Democrats, whose vote spectacularly collapsed leaving it with a clutch of just 8 Westminster seats.
This was the promise to increase supply by giving greater powers to local authorities to tackle empty homes, in the form of renovation and subsequent return of the property to the rental or sales markets.
Increasing the supply of housing was the overall mandate given to the incoming government by survey participants, the report claims, with other popular policies including Conservative proposals for ‘Rent to Buy’ and the controversial extension of the Right to Buy scheme.
As a demand-side policy, the new Right to Buy scheme has received a mixed reception to date, with critics claiming it could actually reduce the supply of affordable housing. More than half of the young people surveyed thought it would be of benefit to getting on the housing ladder.
Craig McKinlay, mortgages director at Halifax, said that promises to help first-time buyers now need to translate into concrete plans during the next parliament.
“Earlier this year the independent Commission on Housing identified that we need to deliver at least two million homes by 2025 to meet demand. Getting empty homes back on the market and tackling the shortfall in housebuilding needs to be a political priority and requires a long-term commitment if it’s to address the shortage of supply.”
In the first two years of the Help to Buy equity loan scheme, 47,018 properties were bought, with Halifax’s report showing more than half of 20-45 year reckon the current schemes have had a positive impact, compared with 8 per cent who think it had a negative effect, and 39 per cent who did not know or were undecided.
As such, the Tory proposal to extend the scheme for new build homes until at least 2020 was popular among first-time buyers, with 56 per cent expressing approval.
Mr McKinlay added that while its good news that the schemes will be carrying on for a number of years yet, “the fact that 39 per cent either don’t know or are undecided demonstrates that more work is needed to educate people as to the benefits and how the schemes work”.
peter.walker@ft.com
