Speaking in London, CEO Grenville Turner said that the current trends in the housing market were unsustainable.
“If you look at the stats currently, we’ve seen 600,000 transactions or fewer for four years, which equates to a person moving house every 25 or 26 years.
“This is not a sustainable market. We do not expect this to release overnight but we will see a return to people moving every 12 years.”
He encouraged central government to direct more funding to housebuilding and refuted claims that potential buyers were expecting a further fall in prices, claiming that first time buyers were simply unable to afford the deposit on properties.
“The government raises £4bn from stamp duty but only spends around £1bn in the sector, despite it being a major part of the economy. They have been taking money out of the sector for decades.
“The housing market led us into recession and it will lead us out of recession. A healthy housing sector is crucial to the UK economy.
“People are paying more in rent to us than they would in a mortgage. It is the deposit not the mortgage which is the problem. Only 5% of first time buyers delay because they expect prices to fall.”
