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Govt housing strategy at a glance – the key pledges

by: Mortgage Solutions
  • 21/11/2011
  • 0
Our run down of the key points from the government’s “ambitious” housing strategy for England.

The aim: tackle the housing shortage, boost the economy, create jobs and help people onto the property ladder.

For homebuyers

  • New build indemnity scheme, led by the CML and Home Builder Federation, to provide up to 95% LTV mortgages to 100,000 first-time buyers
  • First loans will be available in spring 2012 – scheme is open to all lenders and house builders in England
  • Government and house builders will underwrite the scheme to enable lenders to recover any loss if the house is sold for less than the outstanding loan
  • The already announced £400m FirstBuy scheme to help 10,500 first-time buyers
  • Increase Right to Buy discounts to up to half the value of the home, increasing opportunity for social tenants to buy
  • Receipts from additional Right to Buy sales will support funding for new affordable homes

For the private rented sector

  • Support investment in sector with Stamp Duty tax changes to bulk purchases of buy-to-let homes and encourage growth of Real Estate Investment Trusts
  • Independent review of barriers to greater large-scale investment in rented housing, due to complete summer 2012
  • Support for build-to-let models of development
  • Govt to investigate measures to tackle rogue landlords and increase local authority powers against dangerous and poorly maintained rental properties

For house builders

  • £400m funding for house builders to restart construction on stalled developments, delivering 16,000 new homes currently in the pipeline – that’s £25,000 per property
  • Free up of public sector land to build up to 100,000 homes
  • Reduce bureaucracy and streamline planning system
  • Affordable housing providers will share £1.8bn to develop new affordable homes
  • First £1bn of contracts confirmed, delivering 170,000 affordable homes over the next four years
  • Government financial support for locally planned, strongly supported large scale building developments of up to 10,000 homes
  • Support self builders, with £30m additional funding to aid short-term project finance on a repayable basis. Plans to be published early 2012

Empty homes

  • £100m scheme to tackle “national scandal” of 700,000 empty homes from April 2012
  • Another £50m of funding will target areas with the worst concentration of empty homes
  • Scheme will be backed by New Homes Bonus for councils bringing empty homes into use
  • Housing associations and councils can apply for funding to bring empty homes back into use
  • Consultation on plans to allow councils to charge a council tax premium on homes empty for more than two years – due to publish early 2012

Elderly homeowners

  • Government will work with industry to develop “simple and attractive” financial products to help elderly people release equity to maintain or adapt their homes
  • Ensure housing developments offer a mix of homes, including those suited for elderly people

Social housing

  • Consultation on making social tenants on incomes of more than £100,000 pay up to market rents
  • Councils to gain powers to reject applications from those who already own a “perfectly acceptable” home of their own
  • Stronger measures against unlawfully occupied social homes
  • “Complex” council housing finance to be scrapped and overhauled; councils to now retain all rental income to be able to reinvest in local stock

You can read the full housing strategy report here

What do you think of the government’s plans? Will it work, is it focusing on the right things or is it simply all pointless rhetoric?

Leave your comments below or email kay.mclellan@incisivemedia.com

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