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Landlords hoping for supply boost in the Budget
Social landlords will be hoping for measures to boost housing supply in the Budget later today.
Chancellor George Osborne will present his last Budget before the election this afternoon. It comes just 50 days before the election and follows the huge Homes for Britain rally at Westminster yesterday calling for politicians to commit to solving the housing crisis within a generation.
Landlords have made a range of asks of the government in their Budget submissions, including calls to give housing associations more flexibility on rents, reforming Right to Buy, giving extra borrowing flexibilities for councils and greater devolution of housing policy.
We will be bringing the news to you on the Budget this afternoon and our online columnist Jules Birch will be live blogging on #housinglive from 12.30pm.
Below is a summary of the main asks from the main umbrella bodies in the sector:
CHARTERED INSTITUTE OF HOUSING
- Review the Right to Buy to ensure homes sold are replaced on a one-for-one basis
- Lift housing revenue account (HRA) borrowing caps by £7bn to enable 75,000 new homes to be delivered over five years
- Establish a £100m ‘challenge fund’ for councils to support vulnerable tenants in the private rented sector
- Support older homeowners to downsize by changing stamp duty rules
NATIONAL HOUSING FEDERATION (NHF)
- Allow housing associations more freedom over rent setting and who they house
- Lift restrictions on the way stock transfer landlords value their properties
- Increase public investment in housing – the NHF estimates £2.5bn a year would support the delivery of 80,000 homes
- Better local co-ordination on the release of land at a price that makes affordable housing feasible
- Extend government guarantees
PLACESHAPERS
- Provide greater housing devolution to allow regions to adapt housing policies to meet the needs of local areas
- Lift stock transfer landlord borrowing restrictions
