The jury is still out on whether the government’s housing White Paper will address the challenge of fixing what is widely regarded as the UK’s ‘broken’ property market.
The paper, released on 7 February, outlined plans to build more houses, diversify the housing sector, improve affordability, and protect renters.
Unveiled by Sajid Javid, the local government and communities secretary, the paper contained a pledge to “get Britain building”.
Mr Javid said: “The housing market in this country is broken and the solution means building many more houses in the places that people want to live.”
The government pledged to continue to support people to buy their own home through the Help to Buy scheme and starter homes. It will crack down on empty homes and promises more action to address areas most affected by second homes.
However many in the industry were quick to dismiss the paper. Russell Quirk, property expert and chief executive of eMoov, said that the proposals “seem to only trim the fat from a system that is fundamentally broken".
Paul Goodman, chairman of the National Association of Commercial Brokers, said the paper was “re-treading old ground”. Jean Liggett, chief executive of Properties of the World, a specialist estate agent specialising in BTL and residential property, said the proposal of a £2bn Housing Infrastructure Fund was “just pennies”.
She said: “This translates to very little money per council across the UK, and thus will have little or no impact on addressing the acute housing shortage that the UK is facing.”
Ms Liggett argued that the government also appeared to be passing the buck to local authorities and doubted whether they would indeed get the support they needed.
She said: “As it is right now, due to austerity for a number of years, councils have had to cut back on key services. That has meant that planning departments are under-staffed and the many of the experts working in them have moved on to other jobs.”
Ms Liggett welcomed the proposal to extend minimum tenancy agreements to six months.
“I agree that tenancies must be longer than six months and one year (STAs). When I lived in New York in my 20s, I had a contract for 3 years.”
The Residential Landlords Association (RLA), which represents smaller landlords, argued that 2 per cent of smaller landlords are prevented from offering tenancies longer than a year by their mortgage lender or insurer.
Alan Ward, chairman of the RLA, said the government would need to encourage mortgage lenders and insurers to allow landlords to offer longer tenancies in order to make the proposals of longer tenancies a reality.
He said: “Any plan for the rental sector that does not provide equal support and encouragement for the vast majority of individuals making up the country’s landlord population is doomed to failure.”
Ms Liggett did not agree with one of the paper’s most contentious proposals – a ban on letting fees.