The revolving door of housing ministers has unsurprisingly meant the country feels policy is in the doldrums – and Britons want more government intervention.
With rising rental prices, a record rise in house prices, a shortage of social housing and a construction supply chain and labour shortage crisis, 81 per cent of Britons think housing is an issue in the UK, according to a YouGov poll in February.
YouGov reported in December that 60 per cent of Britons think government policy has had a negative impact on housing in the UK.
Karen Noye, mortgage expert at Quilter, points out a key change that has already been brought to the table is the relaxation of planning rules to release more land for commercial and housing developments in 38 investment zones.
This was announced at the "mini" Budget, though since Kwarteng was replaced by Jeremy Hunt as chancellor on October 14 this may not go ahead.
Noye says: “While changes to planning could result in more housing stock – which is much needed – the proposal has naturally been met with widespread concern over the potential destruction of nature it could cause.
“Should this change go ahead, it will present a tricky balancing act for the government as while it cannot be seen to be paving over the UK, it is also under pressure to build more stock to help relieve the current housing supply issues.”
What does the broking world need ministers to do to help?
Brokers are calling on the government to provide stability to a market in turmoil.
Mike Staton, director at Staton Mortgages, says: “We need the ministers to step in and talk to us. The cause of the panic at the moment is uncertainty and this is down to a massive lack of communication. Nobody knows what is happening.”
His message to the government is “tell us what your plans are to reduce fuel costs, to reduce food costs and to reduce energy costs; only then will we see inflation drop and the mortgage rates start to come down”.
Staton adds: “This mess needs fixing now before house purchases drop any further and we see the market crash.”
According to the YouGov study, of nine policies it asked about, the most popular was increasing the percentage of new builds required to be set aside for affordable housing. Seven in 10 Britons (69 per cent) would support such a move, with just 15 per cent opposed.
Currently, there is no national law requiring developers to set aside a percentage of homes for affordable housing, with such decisions left mainly up to individual local authorities.
