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
Breaking Property News – 23/04/24
Daily bite-sized proptech and property news in partnership with Proptech-X. Agents urged to review AML policies following recent HMRC fines Recent substantial fines issued by HMRC are a harsh reminder to agents to ensure that their Anti-Money Laundering (AML) policies are up to date, and they have control testing in place. This is according…
Read More 
Spring activity boost pushes asking prices close to new record
The average asking price of property coming to the market rises by 1.1% (+£4,207) this month to £372,324, just £570 short of the record in May 2023, while the annual rate of price growth is now +1.7%, the highest level for 12 months: A key factor behind this growth towards a near-record average price is…
Read More
Weekly News Roundup – 19/04/24
A roundup of the week’s top property and proptech news stories in partnership with Proptech-X Table of Contents Ascendix deep dives into the world of the AVM CEO Adam Pigott on tour in Norfolk with tlyfe App VTS Activate Multifamily launches Ascendix deep dives into the world of the AVM This month Yana Yarotska from Ascendix…
Read More
Breaking Property News – 18/04/24
Daily bite-sized proptech and property news in partnership with Proptech-X. Scotland to get to Net Zero by 2045 in stunning U-turn Because of its serious implications here in full is the Scottish ‘apology or explanation’ why it thinks it is OK to let the planet burn for the next two decades. Net Zero and…
Read More Breaking Property News – 17/04/24
Daily bite-sized proptech and property news in partnership with Proptech-X. CEO Adam Pigott on tour in Norfolk with tlyfe App Full disclosure CEO Adam Pigott and his team are one of my earliest clients, so it is always a pleasure to hear what they have been getting up to. And this week they were…
Read More 
Rightmove’s weekly mortgage tracker
Headlines The average 5-year fixed mortgage rate is now 4.84%, up from 4.45% a year ago The average 2-year fixed mortgage rate is now 5.23%, up from 4.77% a year ago The average 85% LTV 5-year fixed mortgage rate is now 4.77%, up from 4.46% a year ago The average 60% LTV 5-year fixed mortgage…
Read More