The measures outlined in her speech are aiming to “restore hope and fix our broken housing market”.
Prime Minister Theresa May promised to help 130,000 more families with their deposit in her Conservative Party conference speech.
The Prime Minister also said that her party will ensure more security for those renting from private landlords and a further £2bn investment in affordable housing - bringing the total affordable housing budget to £9bn.
She said that she hopes to make the “British dream [of homeownership] a reality” despite the average home now costing almost eight times the average earnings.
Charles McDowell, commercial director – mortgages at Aldermore, welcomed the moves. He said: “Further to today’s announcement that the government will provide an additional £2bn for affordable housing, we are glad that the government continues to have housing on its agenda.
“The government already announced earlier this week that it will extend the help to buy equity scheme with an injection of £10bn to support demand, so it is encouraging that it is also starting to address the supply of housing in the UK.”
The Prime Minister also touched upon ensuring more land is available for potential homebuilders, but pledges to give councils across the country more power to ensure land is used for housebuilding.
McDowell added: “We believe more needs to be done to increase house building, so it is promising to see that the government has assured developers that land will be available for building.
“Policymakers need to stop considering each issue as a standalone problem and take a holistic perspective.”
Andy Sommerville, director of Search Acumen, agreed that the time was right for more building. He said: “Our country needs to embark on the greatest housing boom the UK has witnessed in a century.
“Theresa May’s pledge to invest an extra £2bn in affordable housing is the first building block to making up for years of under supply and we can only hope that this is not simply another empty promise to fix our broken housing market.
“Now that our leaders share the industry’s sense of urgency, we must act to build more homes and we must act quickly.”
Theresa May also outlined how the number of homes being built had risen “considerably” since Conservatives took power in 2010, however the last 30-40 years has seen a lack of homes being built.
In her speech, Theresa May outlines how over half (59%) of 18-34 year olds owned their own home over a decade ago, a figure which has fallen to 38%.
The measures outlined in her speech are aiming to “restore hope and fix our broken housing market”.
