More than three quarters of developers want to see the government row back on its buy-to-let policies in order to help address the housing crisis.
New research by specialist short-term lender Amicus Property Finance reveals 78 per cent want the government to repeal stamp duty rises and tax relief reductions on landlords.
The survey of 51 UK property developers, conducted in March, uncovered a mixed response to the government’s housing white paper, which was given a critical reception when it was released on 7 February.
It follows separate research showing nearly 50 per cent of landlords are considering withdrawing from the sector due to the government’s policy changes.
More than two-thirds (69 per cent) of developers surveyed by Amicus think increasing the availability of brownfield sites will offer the most potential for developers, making it the most popular policy in the white paper.
Almost half (49 per cent) see cutting the time local authorities have to approve planning applications from three years to two as the biggest opportunity, while 45 per cent cited continuation of the Help to Buy scheme and 41 per cent said building homes in the affordable sector.
Many developers remain sceptical about the government’s plan to build one million homes by 2020, with just one in five (21 per cent) believing this target to be realistic.
More than two in five (44 per cent) want to see incentives for elderly people to downsize and free up family homes, four in ten (41 per cent) think stamp duty should become a seller’s tax rather than a buyer’s tax and 37 per cent recommended a suspension in capital gains tax to encourage more land to come to the market.
Where do you see the biggest opportunities for property developers and investors in the housing white paper? (%)
| Release of more publicly owned brownfield land for development | 69% |
| Reduce the time local authorities have to approve planning applications from three years to two | 49% |
| Continuation of the Help to Buy scheme | 45% |
| Increased focus on building homes in the affordable rental sector | 41% |
| Expectation for developers to produce higher density housing plans where land is in high demand | 39% |
| Financial incentive to enable local authorities to increase the size of their planning departments | 31% |
| £3 billion to help smaller builders challenge the large developers | 31% |
| Continuation of the Lifetime ISA for first time buyers | 25% |
Keith Aldridge, founder and managing director at Amicus Property Finance, said: “Property developers appear highly supportive of a number of the ideas in the white paper, particularly releasing more brownfield land to the market and the greater focus on affordable housing.
“The existing Help to Buy initiative has also been well received by many developers and we have already financed a number of successful developments in the south east.
“Though large scale government investment plays a part in stimulating supply, developers see the current tax laws as one of the biggest obstacles to solving the housing crisis, particularly repealing the recent stamp duty increases for landlords.”
Victor Jannels, chairman at All Types of Mortgages in Horsham, commented: “We think it was not necessarily well thought through on the stamp duty issue and the government should rethink.
“The double-whammy of Prudential Regulatory Authority stress tests also has a major effect because the hidden issue is lenders start looking more at the affordability than the rental income because they are worried that in the event of a rental void, can they cope? It has created a false hurdle.”
simon.allin@ft.com
