‘Cut now necessary to boost housing market and avoid wider economic downturn’ The HBF is calling on the Monetary Policy Committee to cut interest rates by at least half a percentage point tomorrow to help prevent the housing market downturn impacting on the wider economy. HBF believes that an interest rate cut, allied to the £50Bn ‘special liquidity scheme’ package announced last month by the Bank of England, and additional measures from the Government such as a stamp duty holiday would help restore both lender and buyer confidence and get some fluidity back in to the housing market. Evidence is pointing to the fact that people do still want to buy new homes, but in many cases are not able to get access to sufficient finance. Whilst HBF welcomed last month’s £50Bn injection, and hoped that it would increase mortgage liquidity and allow the benefits of interest rate cuts to be passed on to customers, the signs are that the move has not had any significant immediate effect for borrowers, particularly first time buyers. Stewart Baseley, Executive Chairman of HBF said today: “We are calling for this move now, as we believe more immediate action is needed to reduce the impact of a potential housing market downturn on the wider economy and on the Government’s ambitious housing targets.” - Ends - Notes to Editors: 1. The Home Builders Federation (HBF) is the principal representative body for private sector home builders and voice of the home building industry in England and Wales. The HBF’s 300 member firms account for some 80% of all new homes built in England and Wales in any one year, and include companies of all sizes, ranging from multi-national, household names through regionally based businesses to small local companies: www.hbf.co.uk For media information, please contact: Steve Turner 020 7960 1606 07919 307 760 steve.turner@hbf.co.uk
