The surveyors’ organisation criticised the government in its latest report on affordable homes for exclusively focusing on homeowners and first-time buyers and said it needed to do more to encourage private landlords to rent to middle-income tenants.
It stated: “There is a new ‘Help to Buy’ policy but no new ‘Help to Rent’. We believe that this emphasis is strategically unwise.
“It ignores the fundamental changes in the UK housing market since the mid-1990s that has involved an increased share of people under 35 who now rent their homes, for longer periods, and that it is private rental supply increases that have housed growing household numbers in this millennium.”
RICS recommended the government scrap the Right to Buy scheme, in which council tenants purchase their homes, with a portable home ownership discount in which the government provided funds for tenants who manage to save, avoid rent arrears and manage their homes effectively.
After three years of renting, these tenants would be able to access this discount in order to purchase a different property.
The report also called for older homeowners downsizing to be exempt from Stamp Duty in order to encourage them to move home.
