Housing a pawn in Tory Brexit leadership scrap
April 16, 2019
Former Housing Minister Dominic Raab has called for “radical” housing reforms in an attempt to help renters get on the housing ladder and increase the rate of home building.
Attacking the Conservative failure to stand up to developers and ensure the construction of enough homes to tackle the housing shortage, Raab advocated a new Help to Buy scheme that would exempt landlords from capital gains tax when they sell their property to existing tenants.
The leadership hopeful also identified the following solutions:
- More government land to be released, with councils given more power to sell sites to smaller developers
- Design by tender after outline planning permissions are received
- Fewer impositions on councils who fail to get enough homes built
- Scrapping stamp duty on homes worth less than £500,000
- Digitise land registry records and support more modular housing
The National Federation of Builders (NFB) does not recall Dominic Raab voicing such policy proposals during his tenure as housing minister. This idea would have been worth hearing when he had a role shaping housing policy in the national interest, rather than when revealing his leadership ambitions on the back of embarrassingly drawn-out Brexit negotiations.
Richard Beresford, chief executive of the NFB, said: “I don’t remember Dominic Raab having any of these ideas when he was housing minister. The revolving door used to usher in a steady stream of housing ministers is unlikely to get any rest, so how likely is it that these ideas will be implemented?”
The House Builders Association (HBA), the house building division of the NFB, has criticised Help to Buy because it fuels demand far more than it provides a supply of homes.
Rico Wojtulewicz, head of housing and planning policy for the HBA, said: “While there is no silver bullet to the housing crisis, it will also not be solved with just the floating of a few ideas. We need consistency, detail and the inclusion of SME house builders at the beginning of policy discussions.”
You May Also Enjoy
Five heatwave home horrors that could stop your property from selling
The latest research from House Buyer Bureau has revealed the heatwave-related issues most likely to deter potential homebuyers during a viewing, with strong smells from drains and sewage ranking as the biggest turn-off, followed by excessive noise when windows are open and bad smells from bins or rubbish. House Buyer Bureau commissioned an independent survey of…
Read More 
Air-conditioning searches double as 61% consider installing it
Searches for homes for sale on Rightmove with air conditioning have more than doubled this summer, up 104% compared with the same period last year New consumer research from Rightmove, the UK’s largest property platform, reveals that recent heatwaves are influencing how Brits think about their homes, with staying cool becoming a key priority: 61%…
Read More 
Why Cases Stall in Summer and What Agents Can Do About It
By Cara Stanbridge, Head of Relationship Management at Nova Conveyancing Every year, we hear talk of the summer slowdown. But from what I see working closely with agents, conveyancers and clients, the issue isn’t usually a lack of activity. More often, it’s keeping transactions moving when everyone involved is juggling higher workloads, holidays and competing…
Read More 
Britain’s property hotspots revealed
The Scottish city where houses sell fastest – and the town where it takes SIX TIMES as long to sell your home Homes in Glasgow sell three times faster than the UK average – making the Scottish city the fastest selling in Britain Wakefield is the slowest-selling city in Britain, with homes spending twice as…
Read More 
Breaking Property News 13/8/26
Daily bite-sized proptech and property news in partnership with Proptech-X. The average age of tenants living in shared houses in the UK is now 35 Thought leadership by Adam Pigott CEO of tlyfe (Openbrix) “The headline figure that tenants are now in their mid 30’s and still have to share facilities, not even have the…
Read More 
Stamp Duty receipts remain above pre-pandemic norms
The latest research from Yopa has revealed that, despite continued speculation surrounding a slowdown in the housing market, Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) receipts remain comfortably above pre-pandemic levels, demonstrating the resilience of buyer activity in recent years. Yopa analysed monthly Stamp Duty Land Tax receipts published by HM Revenue & Customs between January 2018 and…
Read More