Maintenance of cash levels tops wishlist for pre-Budget report
Don’t cut Kick-start budget, urges HBF
The Home Builders Federation has called on the government to maintain and if possible increase the Homes and Communities Agency’s budget for the £925 million Kick-start programme, in its submission of suggestions to be included in the approaching pre-Budget report.
The HBF sent a report to the Treasury last week outlining the steps its members felt were needed to facilitate a revival in the housing market and highlighting the benefits of boosting house building.
The body stressed that the building industry needed continued government support to boost the number of housing starts, adding that current support schemes must be maintained to underpin a recovery.
The report said: ‘Such funding could, by helping boost housing production, increase private and affordable housing output, increase employment, boost supply chain activity, and help progress towards the zero-carbon homes target.’
The body also stressed the importance of extending the deadline for the Homebuy Direct scheme - which provides equity loans of up to 30 per cent of the value of a home for first-time buyers and is set to close at the end of the financial year - or risk stifling the ‘steady momentum’ the programme has built up.
The HBF said the scheme should be extended to the end of the 2011 financial year so the initiative could achieve its true potential. The body warned that discussions with the HCA suggested the government was only considering a ‘limited extension’, restricting legal completions beyond 31 March, which the federation deems ‘completely inadequate’.
The government has already pledged this year to use the pre-Budget report next Wednesday to set out its strategy to support an effective housing supply response through the recovery and to maximise delivery of high-quality, energy efficient homes.
HBF pre-Budget report suggestions
- Extend the existing deadline for Homebuy Direct scheme until September 2010 at least and perhaps until the end of the 2011 financial year
- For the Treasury to maintain and be prepared to increase the Home and Communities Agency’s budget for the £925 million Kick-start programme
- The temporary increase in the stamp duty threshold, due to expire at the end of the year, should be extended for another year and the threshold raised to £250,000
- To introduce a dedicated government-backed national home deposit savings scheme to help first-time buyers
- The addition of a mortgage indemnity guarantee scheme for house purchases to stimulate the housing market
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