His speech had a clear social agenda to increase the building of council houses.
Nicholas Mendes, mortgage technical manager at John Charcol, said: “The speech does very little to mortgage rates in the near term. Markets held steady on the commitment to the existing fiscal rules, with none of the repricing an unfunded announcement would have triggered.
“Swaps barely moved on the day and remain modestly lower than a month ago. The path of rates through the rest of the year still rests on the bank, inflation, and energy costs rather than the change of leader.”
Stamp duty changes helps first-time buyers
Burnham has long been an advocate of getting rid of stamp duty, in favour of a new land value tax. His speech did little to quell any notions of change on that front.
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Mendes added: “The part of the agenda that matters most for lending is the talk of replacing stamp duty and council tax with an annual property levy. Scrapping stamp duty cuts the upfront cost of moving, which helps first-time buyers and movers.
“A recurring charge in its place is a very different proposition for affordability. It would count as a committed outgoing where a one-off stamp duty bill never entered the assessment, so it would feed straight into maximum borrowing and force lenders to revisit their models.”
Housebuilding stagnates
With housebuilding having reached a lull, it is interesting to see it as one of Burnham’s core ideas. State investment in housing brings the UK closer to its goal of one-and-a-half million homes by 2029.
Nathan Emerson, CEO of Propertymark, said: “Propertymark welcomes ambitions that place housing at the heart of UK government policy. Ensuring the right homes are built in the right places at the right time is essential to help meet the needs of an ever-growing population.
“Alongside social and council housing, continued investment in homes for private ownership and in the private rented sector is also vital to ensure the needs of a diverse housing market are fully met and that the promise to deliver 1.5 million affordable and sustainable homes in England by 2029 is fulfilled.
“At the same time, any major housing reform must be carefully scrutinised to ensure it achieves all intended outcomes. Greater local control could help support a more responsive overall decision-making process that better reflects regional housing needs moving forward.”
