Mood music hits right notes for housing market

It is good to see the 'lower end' of the market being supported heavily. 

Chancellor Philip Hammond said £2.3bn would be spent on housing infrastructure.  This money should support the building of up to 100,000 new homes, and amounted to a "step-change" in help for the industry (it is not the first time we have heard this).

There will also be a Housing White Paper which is due next year.

The government has also agreed to spend an extra £1.4bn on affordable housing in England. Local authorities will be able to bid for the money under one of three existing schemes: affordable rent, shared ownership or rent to buy.

Under the plans the Right to Buy scheme for housing association tenants will continue, as will the Help to Buy Equity and Help to Buy Isa schemes.

The Treasury estimates that could lead to 40,000 more affordable homes being built.  The money will top up the existing £4.7bn being spent on grants for affordable housing over the next five years.

He announced he would also be relaxing restrictions on government grants to allow housing firms to create different types of homes.

Under the plans the Right to Buy scheme for housing association tenants will continue, as will the Help to Buy Equity and Help to Buy Isa schemes. This will all help to boost the housing market.

The government plans to “more than double annual capital spending on housing” to create a “housing market that works for everyone”.

 As was widely publicised before the chancellor stood up, there will be a ban as soon as possible on the uncapped, up-front fees that blight the rental market.

This should bring more money back in to the market for landlords and especially tenants - making the rental market more affordable; or so this is hoped.

Mitch Hopkinson is head of advice and high-net worth at deVere United Kingdom