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
Is it worth buying a fixer-upper property?
The latest research from eXp UK reveals that fixer-upper homes can be picked up for an average saving of more than £44,000, but when the cost of renovating the property is accounted for do homebuyers actually stand to make a saving? And what chance do buyers have of finding one on today’s market? Fixer-uppers are…
Read More 
Nottingham letting agents are the busiest in Britain
The latest research from Propoly reveals that across Britain’s major cities, there are an average of 13.5 rental listings for each single letting agency branch, with the nation’s busiest agents found in Nottingham where this figure climbs to 35 properties per professional. Propoly has analysed the estimated number of current rental listings in 21 of…
Read More 
The six protections every new-build buyer must check before signing
With 53% of homebuyers saying they would prefer a new build, demand remains high, but so do the risks if buyers fail to ask the right questions. Buying a new build often means committing to a property that is not yet finished, which makes the small print just as important. Without these protections, buyers risk…
Read More 
Rental price and average salary tracker – February 2026
Regional divergence replaces winter slowdown as rental market shows mixed February movement Month-on-month rental prices showed a mixed picture in February. Notable increases were recorded in the East Midlands (+3.4%), North West (+2.8%), Scotland (+2.7%) and South East (+2.0%), suggesting demand has firmed in several areas. However, Northern Ireland (−6.6%), West Midlands (−1.3%), East of…
Read More 
UK property sector gender pay gap keeps getting wider
UK property sector gender pay gap keeps getting wider and It now has the fourth largest gap across all UK industries The latest research from Yopa reveals that real estate remains one of the UK’s worst-performing industries when it comes to the gender pay gap, ranking as the fourth largest across all sectors after widening…
Read More 
Britain’s most expensive streets revealed
The latest edition of Rightmove’s Most Expensive Streets report reveals that Winnington Road in Barnet, London, retains its position as Great Britain’s most expensive street, with an average asking price of £12,538,095 Chester Square in Westminster is second, with an average asking price of £11,546,428 and The Bishops Avenue in Barnet is third, with a price tag of £8,930,650 East Road…
Read More