Richard Clark, Associate Director at global real estate services firm DTZ, comments:
Unlocking new homes is an issue of inter-generational equity
“The challenge we face as a nation is to communicate the need for new homes, and the consequence for subsequent generations of not building enough. This is an issue of inter-generational equity. The rising generation needs to find its voice in the debate – it is our children who will find it difficult to afford satisfactory housing, and it will be these young people who will end up paying a much higher proportion of their income on housing than the older generation ever did.”
The New Build Indemnity Scheme
“The announcement by the government of a mortgage guarantee scheme is most welcome. It will boost the ability of younger households to get on the housing ladder. But in a market where overall mortgage lending volumes are only half of their pre- 2008 long- term average, the overall impact of this scheme on the housing market will be modest. The government needs to be more radical and create the environment in which major financial institutions will invest in new build private rented housing. This remains a work in progress.”
The Get Britain Building Fund
“The government’s announcement of financial support to get stalled housing development scheme’s going is good news. But the simple fact is that we will never build enough homes for all the families who need a home if we rely on the traditional ways of funding new housing development.
“The government needs to kick start investment by the life and pension companies in building for private renting on a large scale. So it is good that this gets some recognition in the strategy. Getting institutional funding for residential development would be a game changer. Some of the funds allocated under the Get Britain Building Fund must be awarded to schemes that demonstrate how this can be done.”
