Help to Buy is no more. What should the government do now to support home buyers and builders?
With the housing market enduring a period of turmoil, along with the expiration of Help to Buy, there is now a conversation to be had on what the government might do to help stabilise or support the market.
When it comes to any potential new government schemes for the mortgage industry, Jeff Knight (pictured), director of Grey Matter Marketing Solutions, said he has three wishes.
Knight wants the broker community to be represented as part of any consultation process, for the government to consider where the greatest need is within the market, and to ensure that solving one problem does not create another.
“With regard to the second point, I would suggest that two key needs are around first-time buyers and energy efficiency,” he added.
Government support for first-time buyers
For first-time buyers, Knight said the value that Help to Buy brought was obvious, however there is a need to look at the bigger picture now.
“I actually believe that there needs to be some form of incentive scheme for house builders to create more affordable housing, and communities, for first-time buyers,” he said.
Knight added that developers will make more money from the bigger properties, but there is a real need for more affordable properties to be built.
Therefore, he believes some sort of scheme to incentivise house builders to focus on more affordable home construction would be most beneficial, as well as a scheme that concentrates on encouraging and training more people to work in the construction industry, as labour supply needs to be increased.
“Building more affordable first-time buyer homes will not solve the whole problem, as there will be existing housing stock that remains over-priced, but it would deeply benefit the market,” Knight said.
Knight added that a solution to the lack of affordable housing in the UK is greatly needed, and he believes the Bank of Mum and Dad or Gran and Grandad are already doing enough. “A scheme to solve this would be perfect for greater equilibrium,” he said.
Read more: Home loans for first time buyers in the UK
What government should do on energy efficiency
Knight said energy efficiency is another area where a government scheme could help, and he believes it has really been brought to life in the current cold weather and sky-high fuel prices environment.
The Ofgem energy-price cap rose to £4,279 in January, but households will be shielded by the government’s Energy Price Guarantee, meaning there should not be any substantial change for the time being.
Knight said in the past energy efficiency was a nice after-thought, but that the cost-of-living crisis has really brought the issue into the limelight.
“When you see some roofs with snow on, and their neighbours without the snow, you can see the difference in insulation quite quickly,” he said.
Knight believes that support therefore needs to be given to make homes more energy efficient, and swiftly.
However, he said that this support needs to be made available to those on lower incomes, rather than the wider population.
“Whatever schemes do get considered, for me my first wish is crucial, I would really urge that any consultative committee includes some mortgage brokers,” he said.
Knight added that whenever he speaks with mortgage brokers, they have a lot of good ideas which could benefit the market.
“Being at the sharp end of the industry, they have such invaluable insights; let us use it to solve real problems and not those that create other ones,” he said.
What would you like to see the government offer in terms of housing support schemes this year? Let us know in the comments below.
