Commissioned by Labour’s shadow cabinet minister for housing and planning John Healey MP, the Redfern Review will investigate areas for future action on the deterioration of homeownership in the UK.
With homeownership in England at its lowest level for nearly three decades, Healey requested the review to analyse the root cause of this decline. The review will report on its findings in the late summer.
Redfern said the review was not about ‘party politics’ but an issue that ‘affects us all’.
“The continued structural decline in homeownership presents a long-term social and economic challenge and necessitates a considered review,” he added.
The review will initially focus on five main factors contributing to the decline in homeownership, including:
- The specific constraints on buying your first home
- The effectiveness of transitions in home tenure
- Homeownership later in life
- Housing supply
- Short, medium and long-term impact of the current policies
A panel of advisers with expertise in housing and economics will participate in the review, which includes Andy Gray, former managing director of mortgages at Barclays and deputy chair of the Council of Mortgage Lenders.
Dame Kate Barker, former Bank of England monetary policy committee member and author of the Barker Review of Housing Supply, will also sit on the panel alongside Terrie Alafat, chief exec of the Chartered Institute of Housing and Ian Mulheirn, director of consulting at Oxford Economics.
Aldermore’s group managing director of mortgages, Charles Haresnape, said it was important that the review would contribute positive outcomes in housing activity.
“Housing policy has become a key political issue over the past couple of years and I think many of the issues facing homeowners and housebuilders have already been highlighted.”
He added: “I hope this review will put the focus firmly back on all aspects of home construction and in particular the role of SME builders. We need to be radical not tinker round the edges.”
