Housing White Paper plan to fix broken housing market

The Government unveils it latest attempt today to fix the broken housing market, moving away from full home ownership to a mixed housing model .

Communities Secretary Sajid Javid will set out its latest plan to get Britain building homes again in a housing White Paper.

At the heart of the plan are fresh moves to speed up planning and loan funding for smaller house builders.

The new housing strategy for England will force councils to update their local housing plans building thousands more homes, with an emphasis on high-rise blocks and city centre developments.

Developers will be told to start building on land within two years of planning, rather than three.

The Government’s aim is to help small firms build more than 25,000 new homes by 2020 with loans from a £3bn fund that will also support for off-site construction and essential infrastructure.

There are also plans to give councils more powers to build homes as well as introducing a Lifetime ISA from April 2017.

To support the growing build to rent sector, ministers also want greater security for renters with longer-term tenancies in the private sector.

Key measures in Housing White paper

• Make councils update local plans for housing demand
• Avoid low density housing where land is in short supply
• Cut allowed period from planning permission to construction from three to two years
• £3bn fund to help smaller building firms, including support for off-site construction
• Introduce a “lifetime ISA” to help first-time buyers save for a deposit
• Allow building on green belt only in exceptional circumstances

“The housing market in this country is broken and the solution means building many more houses in the places that people want to live, said the Communities Secretary.

“Today we are setting out ambitious proposals to help fix the housing market so that more ordinary working people from across the country can have the security of a decent place to live.

“The only way to halt the decline in affordability and help more people onto the housing ladder is to build more homes. Let’s get Britain building.”

from Construction Enquirer http://www.constructionenquirer.com/2017/02/07/housing-white-paper-plan-to-fix-broken-housing-market/

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