The current Chancellor and Prime Ministerial candidate said he wanted to create five carbon neutral communities, which would be built on brownfield sites, to help create a ‘home owning, asset owning, wealth owning democracy’.
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His emphasis on housing has been welcomed by an industry that knows the need for extensive house building to help alleviate the imbalance between supply and demand.
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Neil Johnson, head of PR and policy at the Building Societies Association, said: “He sounded a bit like John Prescott when Labour first came into power but while saying he will build environmentally friendly houses is nothing new, the challenge is to make it work in practice. Also, if he is to make it work, the infrastructure must be in place, such as schools and transport, and he must overcome a huge barriers to development – local opposition.”
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Meanwhile, Simon Biddle, head of marketing and communications at Infinity Mortgages, emphasised the importance of where the homes were located.
“As with any politician, the proof of the pudding will be in the eating, but with the housing gap as it is, it’s very welcome news. The space for a town that size will be contentious though, especially in the South East where there is the most pressure on housing supply. He will have issues to sidestep on the political side. Also, the idea of being eco-friendly I think is a bit headline-grabbing and whether he can provide that will be a big question.”
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