The British Property Federation (BPF) has welcomed a raft of measures announced by the Prime Minister aimed at tackling the housing crisis and kick-starting the economy.
The BPF believes that by accepting the Montague Review recommendations, coupled with the Government commitment to invest £200m in housing sites to ensure high-quality rented homes are available to institutional investors quickly, there is an opportunity to develop a new model for building homes in the UK that will help bridge the gap between what is being produced and providing enough homes to meet increasing demand.
The Federation also welcomed the continuing support for the NPPF and the emphasis on effective implementation, but raised concerns that taking major developments out of the planning system could place additional pressure on the Planning Inspectorate and the IPC. Proposals include:
• accepting the Montague Review recommendations;
• removing thousands of residential and commercial projects from the planning system altogether with applications directed to a major infrastructure fast track;
• promoting office to residential conversions;
• a Government guarantee of up to £40 billion for major infrastructure projects and up to £10 billion for new homes.
Liz Peace, chief executive of the British Property Federation, said: “Taken together these measures will certainly provide a shot in the arm for house building. However, they will only solve housing issues if accompanied by a significant package of other measures.
“House builders are not on strike; they are simply not building because there are few people in a position to buy, or seeking to move. We are therefore pleased to see support to access home ownership and measures to encourage renting are also seen as important parts of this package. Simply building homes for non-existent buyers has been tried before, in Spain and Ireland, with disastrous consequence.
“We’re pleased to see the Government throw its weight behind the Montague Review. But this will only be a success if local authorities get behind it. They remain in the box seat in accepting build-to-let and how affordable housing requirements should be dealt with on build-to-let developments. There is also important and inclusive support via Government guarantees for building build-to-let stock. House builders, constructions firms and housing associations will all have access to this. We hope many will consider it as something they want to get into”
