A better strategy is needed to fix under-supply of housing
The UK housing crisis is a long-term structural problem that requires a long-term solution, according to Karen Rodrigues (pictured), director of sales at eConveyancer.
She believes that in order to address the underlying issue of an under-supply of affordable housing, a better strategy is needed that stretches beyond the term of one or two governments, to 20-30 years into the future.
Stuart Andrew has been named housing minister in a government reshuffle, replacing Christopher Pincher. Andrew is the fifth housing minister in four years and the 11th since 2010. The amount of new housing ministers in such a short period of time is part of the problem, she believes, as any long-term strategies do not materialise due to the rapid and consistent changing of ministers. However, the problems do not end there.
What are the issues?
According to Rodrigues, a major issue is the number of new homes being built.
New housing supply is currently lower than the government’s ambition of 300,000 new homes per year, with 216,000 new homes supplied in 2020/21. This is lower than the 243,000 new homes supplied in the previous year, in part because of disruption to housebuilding caused by COVID-19 in early 2020.
“We are not building enough and that must be addressed, but also now is the opportunity to build different styles of homes that are more energy efficient and sustainable and make best use of the land that is available,” Rodrigues said.
Read more: “Government must address shortfall in new homes”
In terms of more tactical changes, Rodrigues said she has seen the provision of local authority housing diminish significantly as a result of Right to Buy. As a result, she believes this risks disenfranchising those on lower incomes, so she said stock needs to be built back up. The Right to Buy scheme is a policy which gives secure tenants of councils and some housing associations the legal right to buy, at a large discount, the council house they are living in.
She went on to add that it is also important to consider conditions within Right to Buy - such as the local authority taking a percentage of the sale price when a property is sold in the future to help fund the building of more social housing.
Additionally, there is the Right to Acquire for assured tenants of housing association dwellings built with public subsidy after 1997, which provides a smaller discount.
“The house buying and selling process also needs review and we need to look at ways of putting more certainty into transactions at an early stage,” she added.
For example, she believes gazumping could be stopped if additional offers were disallowed after a vendor accepts an offer.
What are the solutions?
Looking further ahead, Rodrigues pointed to the better use of available technology to streamline processes like the verification of IDs.
“However, we have also seen a recent uptick in fraud, so new measures must strike a balance between being robust and convenient,” she added.
COVID has accelerated the use of technology in all areas of life, with one of its essential uses during the height of the pandemic having been to conduct virtual valuations and viewings.
Read more: Mortgage tech accelerates – and it's here to stay
During the pandemic, anti-money laundering (AML) software provider SmartSearch added a facial recognition feature to its digital AML platform to help clients requiring visual confirmation of a customer ID. This was designed to tackle the issue of travel and social distancing restrictions which meant prospective customers were unable to present ID documents and proof of address in person.
The increased switch to people choosing to utilise technology has sped up many processes, as security measures and the progression of a mortgage application can all be furthered online.
“There is a huge amount that can be done in this area and the government needs to engage with industry experts to ensure we put the right measures in place to create a better housing landscape, rather than just paying lip service to the issue,” Rodrigues concluded.
