"We do not build enough houses and we do not have enough houses"
Combating the housing crisis has been an issue for several decades in the UK, with numerous housing ministers attempting to find a solution.
Within the 2019 Conservative manifesto, it pledged to build 300,000 homes by year by the mid-2020s. However, this pledge has since been lowered to a target, resulting in much frustration from the housing industry.
Mortgage Introducer spoke with industry experts to discuss whether they believe the government is doing enough to combat the housing crisis.
Combating the housing crisis
Rhys Schofield (pictured), director at Peak Mortgages and Protection, said if the government took housing seriously, we would not have had over 20 housing ministers since 1997.
“It is bizarre that something as vital as everyone having a good home is not seen as one of the most important ministerial positions,” he said.
Schofield said it is immensely frustrating to see new schemes and incentives but nothing to really deal with the root cause of housing issues, lack of supply. “The outlook is simple, as a country we do not have enough houses and we do not build enough houses,” Schofield said.
In order to combat the housing crisis, he believes the government needs to launch a massive housebuilding campaign, and he added that if building on greenbelt is not an option, it must look at making high-rise living attractive.
“If the government really cared about housing rather than using it as a political football, we would be building much more affordable and social housing,” added Imran Hussain, director at Harmony Financial Services.
Hussain stated that the government is partly at fault for the housing crisis we have, and added that Help to Buy equity loans have done nothing but inflate the price of new builds.
Instead, he said the government should have focused on upskilling younger people to enter the trades the housing industry has a skills shortage in, which would allow more homes to be built at affordable prices.
“The next housing minister, be it Conservative or Labour, must not use the post as a stepping stone, but actually be serious about housing, or we will have lost a whole generation who will never purchase a home,” Hussain said.
Plan of action
Graham Cox, founder at Self Employed Mortgage Hub, said the government’s actions are the primary cause of the housing crisis.
“Stamp Duty holidays, Help to Buy, Rent to Buy, lack of house building, lax monetary policy, you name it, they have pretty much done the opposite of what they should have done,” Cox said.
He added that the solutions are not rocket science; relax planning and allow councils to start building social housing at vast scale so people have affordable places to rent. In addition, Cox said the government needs to abolish Rent to Buy, Shared Ownership, and any of the other schemes that only make housing less affordable because they address the symptom, not the cause, that house prices are too high.
“The other thing they should do is re-include house prices in the 2% inflation target, allow wages to catch up, and tax property investment to deter it from being treated as a speculative asset class,” Cox said.
Joe Stallard, director and adviser at House and Holiday Home Mortgages, said there are plenty of ways to ease the housing crisis with a bit of flair and a willingness to roll up collective ministerial sleeves and act. For one thing, he said it is obvious we need to be building more affordable homes - and if that means considering alternative methods of construction, then do it.
“Removing or altering Stamp Duty for downsizers is a simple method that would help free up property for families who need more space,” Stallard said.
Stallard also believes the government should rework buy-to-let regulations to ensure landlords are encouraged to provide good quality affordable housing, rather than being chased out of the market.
“With a focus on quality as well as professionalising and improving the sector, we could make private renting a cool affordable choice; like it is in Italy,” he added.
Do you believe the government are doing enough to support the housing crisis? Let us know in the comment section below.
