Housebuilding plans get cautious welcome from brokers

In his Autumn Budget chancellor Philip Hammond announced an extra £15bn of investment in housebuilding to take the total to £44bn over the next five years.

It will take the form of capital funding, loans and guarantees to be invested in skills, resources and building land.

Andrew Montlake, director at London-based Coreco Group, said: “It comes across as though they are determined to do something. As with anything, the devil will be in the detail and out it is rolled out in the coming months.

“These are pretty hefty targets that have not been met before for many a year. The biggest issue is do we have the expertise, bricks and materials to build these homes? 

“It is good, positive and a step in the right direction – but there still needs to be hard and fast proof that things are going to change.”

David Hollingworth, associate director of communications at London and Country, said: “They are at least trying to tackle the issues that are causing problems in the housing market.

“He does recognise this will take time rather than saying it will be delivered in 2018.”

But Mr Hollingworth added that some of the measures had been proposed before and previous government targets had been missed.

Jane King, mortgage adviser at London-based Ash-Ridge, said she thought the government would deliver on the proposals.

She said: “It is good news. If it is written down, it is going to happen. I can’t see any reason why he would not follow through with it.”

Chris Lloyd, associate director at mortgage broker Enness, said: “The promise of 300,000 homes is no surprise; housing has for the longest time been high on the agenda of the chancellors of recent years. It’s not only about having homes for the growing population, but has the aim of keeping house prices in line with wages. 

“This is particularly important in the big cities, where talent should be retained, and not encouraged to look elsewhere for more affordable prices.”

simon.allin@ft.com