You are viewing 1 of your 1 free articles
Sceptical reaction to Help to Buy expansion
Theresa May’s £10bn extension to Help to Buy has been met with a lukewarm reaction from the sector.
In a surprise move, the House Builders’ Association (HBA) condemned the prime minister’s proposed extension to Help to Buy, which saw an immediate boost to housebuilders’ share prices. The group called it a symbol of the government’s failed housing policy.
Social housing figures have lined up to admonish the prime minister for continuing to support a policy that many feel has mainly benefited builders.
Paul Hackett, chair of the G15 network of London housing associations, told Inside Housing: “For the entire industry, it’s important that we get certainty, but I would have liked to have seen an approach that signalled a tapering of Help to Buy over a longer period of time, so that as a nation we can wean ourselves off demand-side subsidies for homebuyers, towards a supply-side approach which would encourage building more homes to help people into homeownership and support people into rent.”
READ MORE
David Montague, chief executive of L&Q, told a fringe event at this week’s Conservative Party conference that Help to Buy was not open to people on low incomes, and said investment in shared ownership would be a better use of funds.
Rico Wojtulewicz, policy advisor for the HBA, said: “Help to Buy is a symbol of failed housing policy. While it is helping people afford homes, the Government should be laser focused on building more homes and not just reheating policies that inflate demand.”
A spokesperson for the Home Builders’ Federation, disagreed, telling Inside Housing: “Housebuilding is a long-term process, such that if you’re going to invest in land that may not see homes built on it for three or four years because of the complexity of the planning system, etc., you’ve got to have some certainty of demand further down the line.”
