Blair has always been good at the PR angle and telling people how he will improve services, be it the health service, education, the army, or housing. However, on each of these Blair has fallen down, and it is up to Brown to restore the faith in each of these.
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From a personal view and for the good of the industry it is essential that Brown tackles the affordability crisis affecting the housing market and pushes through Blair’s original pledge to rapidly increase the amount of new properties being built. But it is much more than that that needs to be achieved.
First-time buyers need greater assistance from government initiatives; the schemes currently in place simply do not go far enough. HomeBuy schemes were designed to help aspiring buyers achieve their dream, but their scope does not reach enough potential borrowers. It could even be necessary to cull the number of buy-to-let landlords, or at least limit the number of properties that they can have on their portfolios.
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Although I am a broker, and am grateful for any business that comes my way, it is a shame and a cause for concern that first-time buyers are continuing to filter out of the market.
The Conservative party has already made home ownership one of the key battleground issues for any future general election and if Brown is to be seen to have a positive impact on the economy, the housing market needs his urgent attention.
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