Pictured: Leamington's Brian Holt manager Jane Canning says
government should encourage developers to restart their build
programmes to help a new generation jump onto the housing
ladder
Leamington estate agency Brian Holt has added its voice to that
of a national body calling on government to incentivise developers
to build new homes to help first timers get on the housing
ladder.
The National Housing Federation warned that unless the
government takes urgent action to address the issue of a lack of
housing, prices would be pushed up, meaning an entire generation
could miss out on home ownership.
Brian Holt's Leamington manager Jane Canning agrees that the
slowdown in newbuilld projects combined with a tightening up of
lending and the current economic climate are making it nigh on
impossible for many people to buy their first home.
She was speaking after a call by the NHF to government to find a
way to encourage developers who are holding onto large land banks
to resume their building programmes to ease the crisis.
"The NHF commissioned research which suggests that the
proportion of home ownership in England could decline from its
current rate of 67% to 63.8% over the next decade," she said.
"These forecasts are based on assumptions that affordability
will worsen, as employment prospects and wages fail to keep up with
a predicted 21% rise in house prices over the next five years.
"The same research also predicts that average rents will jump by
almost 20% over the next five years, making saving for a deposit
even more difficult.
"This doesn't mean building swathes of new homes across our
countryside - just building in areas which already have planning
permission and are allocated for development."