Alistair Darling’s scrapping of Stamp Duty up to £250K for first-time buyers (FTBs) is a huge boost to the housing market, HBF said today. It will provide a massive fillip to hard pressed FTBs who have seen their aspirations for home ownership dashed by harsh lending conditions. Raising the threshold to £250K is something HBF has been demanding for over two years. It will help beleaguered FTBs struggling to save the large deposits currently being demanded by lenders. FTBs are vital to the housing market and the shortage of those able to get mortgages has reduced the industry’s ability to build the new homes we know this country needs. Stewart Baseley, Executive Chairman of the HBF, said today; “This Budget is a huge boost to both home buyers and the house building industry. I am pleased the Government has recognised the importance of ensuring that people are able to buy homes.” The Stamp Duty announcement formed part of a package of measures welcomed by the house building industry. Requirements for Local Authorities to identify an adequate supply of developable land and proposals to reduce the regulatory costs placed on housing development are vital if the country is to build its way out of the housing crisis identified by HBF just last week as approaching a shortfall of a million homes. HBF has been demanding such action for years. Baseley continued; ”The steps taken today can only help reduce the social and economic impacts of the housing crisis we have in this country and will also sustain many thousands of jobs in the industry and wider economy.” The requirement for Local Authorities to maintain a five-year supply of deliverable, viable housing land is an absolutely critical element of the planning system. Industry feedback had always told us many Local Authorities had not met this requirement, so we are very pleased that the new system will put the onus on Authorities to prove to the satisfaction of the Government that they have such a five-year supply. The public sector controls between a quarter and a third of potential housing land. Therefore it is essential that more of this surplus land is released for housing development. We support departmental targets. We also very much welcome the focus on reducing the regulatory burden on housing development. The viability of many housings sites is threatened by this burden even before the carbon reduction requirements of 2013 and 2016. Reducing this must be one of the Government’s highest priorities if we are to meet Britain’s future housing needs. For media enquiries, or to arrange an interview, please contact Steve Turner on 020 7960 1606 / 07919 307 760 or steve.turner@hbf.co.uk 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
