UK Finance is calling for further housing market reform.
UK Finance recently releases its report ‘Homes We Need’ which proposes solutions to complement the government’s plans.
UK Finance, which represents over 300 firms “including 120 mortgage lenders, is today releasing its report Homes We Need.”
The report assesses the current state of the housing market and “recommends actions to be taken to address the UK’s 4.3 million housing shortfall.”
The banking and finance sector plays, and will “continue to play, an essential role in providing mortgages and finance to the housing market.”
The new government has acted quickly “to encourage more housebuilding and ensure that affordable housing is a key part of its new targets.”
However, the progress needed will not be “achieved without cooperation across the public and private sectors.”
UK Finance wants to work with the government to:
- Support the home-building industry by ensuring that the overhaul of the planning system makes it simpler, and more rules based. Shorter development timescales and consistency in planning decisions will help give developers the certainty they need to deliver the government’s new homes target.
- Support home ownership by helping first-time buyers to purchase the homes they need, through making permanent the current temporary nil-rate bands on stamp duty up to £425,000; increasing access to shared ownership schemes; and reviewing whether prudential rules introduced after the global financial crisis have made it too difficult for potential borrowers to obtain a mortgage.
Also, by helping “last time” buyers through an independent advice service to assist older homeowners with their housing needs and “minimizing upfront costs for those choosing to downsize, such as a stamp duty exemption.”
The government’s housing target should also include homes “suitable for older buyers in places they want to live.”
Support the rental market by reviewing the Local Housing Allowance annually so it keeps pace with rents.
Creating a government sponsored registration system “for owners of rental properties will both ease the compliance burden on landlords and help local authorities, mortgage lenders and tenants identify rogue landlords or sub-standard properties.”
Providing tax incentives could also encourage landlords “to make green upgrades to their properties.”
The UK has an estimated shortfall of 4.3 million homes – “a number that is growing every year – housing is therefore a top.”
