Of course, the Chancellor has plenty on his plate at the moment, in terms of supporting individuals and households who continue to struggle with the cost of living crisis and balancing the economic books.
However, despite there being no obvious quick fixes, a Budget offering no material support for first-time buyers or addressing homebuilding targets will always leave the door open to criticism from the housing and mortgage markets.
What we did see in the Budget was a suggestion that the levels of nutrient pollution may be “stalling housing delivery” across 74 local planning authorities.
In response to this, the Department for Levelling Up will launch a call for evidence from local planning authorities on “nutrient neutrality” requirements and provide funding for mitigation schemes. It will be interesting to see how this might impact planning issues, although – as a standalone housing focal point – it did feel a little underwhelming.
Hope for more housing supply
Looking beyond this ‘missed opportunity’ as it was widely banded, positive news did recently emerge from a supply and new build perspective.
Research by Alliance Fund suggesting that across Britain as a whole, some 87,345 homes made it to market in the last 14 days, with new builds accounting for around eight per cent of them. The data – released on 10 March 2022 – also outlined that new build stock climbed as high as 25 per cent in some areas of the UK.
From a regional standpoint, the highest level of new for-sale stock in Scotland comes via the new-home sector, with 12.8 per cent of all new listings being new builds. In Yorkshire and the Humber and the East Midlands, new homes accounted for 9.3 per cent and 9.2 per cent of all respective homes reaching the market over this two-week period, with the new-build sector also fuelling a considerable level of housing market stock across the North West (8.6 per cent) and East of England (8.5 per cent).
By contrast, Wales saw the smallest proportion of new housing stock come via the new-build sector, with new-build properties accounting for just 3.9 per cent of all new listings reaching the market.
City-wise, new-build properties accounted for as much as a quarter of all new homes made available to homebuyers over the last fortnight in Liverpool, with Glasgow (14.2 per cent), Newcastle (13.3 per cent), Manchester (10.8 per cent) and Edinburgh (10.5 per cent) also seeing more than one in 10 new homes listed for sale being delivered by new-build developers. Of all cities analysed in the research, Cardiff saw the lowest level of recent for-sale stock come via the new homes hopper, with the sector accounting for just three per cent of homes listed for sale over the last two weeks.
It’s encouraging to see some positive data emerge around the new-build sector as the Help to Buy scheme is phased out and the emphasis on energy efficiency and the green mortgage market grows.
Enabling a sustainable and accessible housing market while driving infrastructure, investment and delivery is no simple task for any government but new ways must be found to fuel supply chains and ensure that homeownership aspirations can be met.
