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Housebuilding and infrastructure too critical to be political footballs – Duncombe
Jeremy Duncombe (pictured), director of mortgage distribution at Yorkshire Building Society and managing director at Accord, called for apolitical governance of housing, planning and infrastructure, taking them out of the hands of MPs to ensure the urgent action and long-term continuity needed.
In a Mortgage Solutions video debate, in association with Accord, Duncombe argued housing, infrastructure and planning are too important to rest in the hands of politicians, much like defence and the NHS, where continuity for the next 20-30 years is essential.
Duncombe said: “In the past, we’ve built new towns. It’s that sort of foresight [that] is needed. Where do you build these new towns? How far do you go out? What are the commuter links back into the cities? Because that’s the challenge. It’s infrastructure, schools, roads, transport and then the house has been built around it.”
He added: “There are lots of challenges there and we just need to get an agreement [that] is a long term, not just cross-party but probably apolitical.”
He said one of the major building drivers in the UK has been Help to Buy, and that there might be ways to make this work without creating the downside of “inflationary pressure” on house prices.
He added that the biggest housing market challenges remain affordability, amassing a deposit and creating housing supply, “and all of these things need looking at together as a joined-up policy.”
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This week, the Conservative Manifesto laid out the government’s plans to relaunch a “new and improved” Help to Buy scheme alongside housebuilding plans for 1.6 million homes in England by the next Parliament and launch a two-year temporary capital gains tax (CGT) relief for landlords who sell to tenants, among other measures.
In the third part of the Accord debate series [05.56], Victoria Hartley, contributing editor of Mortgage Solutions, was also joined by David Hollingworth, associate director of communications at L&C Mortgages, and Vikki Jefferies, proposition director at Primis.
Watch the rest of the debate below.
Watch the third video, hosted by Victoria Hartley, contributing editor at AE3 Media, with Jeremy Duncombe, director of mortgage distribution at Yorkshire Building Society and managing director at Accord Mortgages David Hollingworth, associate director of communications at L&C Mortgages Vikki Jefferies, proposition director at Primis. This is the third part of a four part video series.
Watch earlier episodes here, with part one on Yorkshire Building Society’s £5,000 deposit mortgage and part two on strategies to improve mortgage access for first-time buyers.
This is sponsored content, produced in association with AE3 Media.