Posts with tag: housing policy

David Cameron Pledges £140m to Regenerate Run-Down Estates

Published On: January 11, 2016 at 1:38 pm

Tags: Affordable housing,housing policy,regeneration

In another housing policy, David Cameron has announced plans to regenerate 100 run-down estates in a £140m scheme.

The Prime Minister explains that some housing estates will be transformed, while others will be demolished and replaced. He describes the estates as “brutal high-rise towers and dark alleyways” and “a gift to criminals”.

The pledge includes a right to return for all residents living in the estates. However, opponents question whether the rents of these homes will be at the same low level they are currently when they are replaced.

The Government hopes the plans will encourage third parties, such as pension funds, to help with housing regeneration.

John Healey, Labour’s Shadow Cabinet Minister for Housing, is not convinced by the plans.

David Cameron Pledges £140m to Regenerate Run-Down Estates

He remarks: “Another week, another housing announcement. If press statements build new homes, the Government would have the housing crisis sorted.

“People simply won’t see this small-scale scheme stretched over 100 estates making much difference to the housing problems in their area.

“Any extra to help councils build new homes is welcome, but Conservative ministers have halved housing investment since 2010 and are doing too little to deal with the country’s housing pressures.”¹

The announcement is due today, but Mr. Cameron revealed the plans himself in a Sunday Times article. He believes that the policy will tackle issues that have “held people back”.

He states: “Decades of neglect have led to gangs and anti-social behaviour. And poverty has become entrenched, because those who could afford to move have understandably done so.

“The mission here is nothing short of social turnaround, and with massive regeneration, tenants protected, and land unlocked for new housing all over Britain, I believe we can tear down anything that stands in our way.”²

Mr. Cameron then spoke on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show, defending the new policy: “I think sink housing estates, many built after the war, where people can feel trapped in poverty unable to get on and build a good life for themselves.

“I think it’s time, with Government money, but with massive private sector and perhaps pension sector help, to demolish the worst of these and actually rebuild houses that people feel they can have a real future in.

“We should have a big shift towards more affordable housing to buy. Of course you always need some affordable housing for rent.”²

The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Greg Clark, adds: “You’ve got estates that are showing their age [and were] perhaps badly designed when they were first built sometimes in the 1960s or 1970s.

“We’ve learnt a lot since then. We actually want to work with local communities to build more homes and a better future for existing tenants there.”²

The Independent reports: “Given this is to be split across 100 estates, that should allow for a few repainted front doors and giant wheelie bins then.

“Anyone who grew up on an estate knows the biggest problem is the inexorably suffocating economic and social nihilism. If there’s nowhere and nothing better to aspire to, then frustration turns to resentment and eventually, anger.

“100 unnamed estates? A not clearly earmarked £140m – when even ten times as much is not enough? Vague promises of private sector and pension sector funding? Halving the amount invested in housing since 2010? You really can’t fool all the people all the time, whether they live on council estates or not.”³

The British Property Federation (BPF) has welcomed the plans, praising the pledge for “binding guarantees” to be enforced for tenants and homeowners, ensuring their right to a home is protected.

Director of Policy at the BPF, Ian Fletcher, comments: “There are some very old council estates that are in need of regeneration, but that process must treat existing residents fairly.

“The Government is therefore right to put some sorts of guarantees at the forefront of its policy and encourage a partnership approach. There are investors in our membership, pension funds and the like, who will be very interested in how they can contribute to those partnerships.

“Communities need not only homes, but jobs, schools and green spaces and other leisure opportunities to create places people want to live in. If the Government gets this right, it could be some of the best use of £140m it has ever spent.”⁴

¹http://news.sky.com/story/1619875/brutal-estates-to-get-140m-regeneration

²https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/estate-regeneration-article-by-david-cameron

³http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/camerons-ideas-for-council-estates-are-as-ill-formed-as-they-are-patronising-a6805081.html

⁴http://24dash.com/news/housing/2016-01-11-PM-pledges-140m-to-transform-sink-housing-estates

Home ownership drops for first time in a century

Published On: June 24, 2015 at 11:30 am

Author: Em Morley

Categories: Landlord News

Tags: home ownership,housing policy,owner occupied

The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics have indicated that home ownership in England and Wales has dropped for the first time this century.

A substantial trend change was recorded between the years 2001 and 2011 in homeownership and renting. In 2011, the proportion of owned properties fell by 5%, which was the first fall recorded in 100 years. As a result, home rents have increased, particularly amongst young people.[1]

Drop

In 2011, 64% or 15 million of the 23.4 million homes in England and Wales were owner occupied, showing a decline from the 69% in 2001. This lead to a rise in the proportion of rented households from 31% to 36%, especially in the private sector where rentals increased from 12% to 18%. Social rented households remained fairly steady, falling from 19% to 18%.[1]

Typically, renters were found to be younger and less likely to be in full-time employment. 87% of people aged between 16-24 were living in rental accommodation, in comparison to just 24% of those aged between 65-74.[1]

Home ownership drops for first time in a century

Dysfunctional

TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady feels that successive governments have neglected housing policy. She said that as a result, ‘we now have the most expensive and dysfunctional housing system in Europe, with millions of people living in often sub-standard private rented accommodation.’[1]

‘A generation of young people face the prospect of never owning their own home,’ she continued. ‘There are no longer any areas in the South of England where average house prices are less than five times the average wage.’[1]

Concluding, O’Grady noted that, ‘with the Government able to borrow at rock bottom rates it needs to get out its cheque book and start building. Investing in house building will pay for itself and generate thousands of jobs and apprenticeships.’[1]

[1] http://www.propertywire.com/news/europe/home-owners-england-wales-2015062310661.html

Average Property Prices at Record High of Over £286,000 in April

Published On: April 20, 2015 at 9:08 am

Author: Em Morley

Categories: Finance News

Tags: average house price,general election,housing crisis,housing policy

Record high house prices around the UK, particularly in London, were driven by a lack of sellers and an increase in buyers, according to Rightmove.

In April, the average asking price of properties coming onto the market reached an all-time high of more than £286,000. This increase was fuelled by a rise in buyers and a shortage of sellers, found the UK’s biggest property website.

Rightmove’s report emphasises the housing crisis in Britain and arrives as political parties address the market in their election manifestos.

The property portal recorded its busiest ever month in March, the highest volume of visitors since its 2000 launch. The amount of people searching for homes grew 20% year-on-year. During the same period, the number of people listing their property on the website dropped 4% in the first three months of the year, compared to 2014.¹

Director of Rightmove, Miles Shipside, says: “Record high housing demand and an undersupply of homes have delivered a new all-time high in the price of property coming to market in the month before the election.

Average Property Prices at Record High of Over £286,000 in April

“The high cost of housing is a big concern for many home-hunters, so the contents of the respective party manifestos and well thought-out sustainable solutions to the lack of affordable housing supply will be high on many voters’ agendas too.”

Last week, we reported David Cameron’s plan to expand the right to buy scheme to 1.3m families living in housing association properties. Read more about the proposal: /how-would-the-conservatives-right-to-buy-work/.

Critics of the Conservatives’ announcement believe that the scheme could worsen the housing crisis, causing prices to inflate.

Commenting on the average house price in April, which rose 4.7% over the year, Shipside says that they have been forced up by hopeful sellers hesitating to put their homes on the market and more landlords investing in properties. He thinks that the long-term rise in prices has been fuelled by a shortage of house building.

He says: “Failure to meet house building targets since the 80s, 90s and 00s to match forecast housing demand has been a major factor in upwards price pressure both in the property sales and private rented sectors.”¹

Around the country, asking prices increased month-on-month in every region in April compared with March. They only fell annually in Wales. Monthly growth in Greater London and the North East were the highest in England, where the average asking prices were £594,585 and £146,361 correspondingly.¹

Since the last general election in May 2010, the average asking price in London has risen by around 50% (£195,000). The north of England has experienced a 3.7% increase (£6,374).¹

Separate research from property company Hamptons International revealed that hopeful homeowners’ ability to purchase a home has declined in the past year, but it had improved in the five years since the last election.

Hamptons’ report, which focused on income, property prices and the cost of living, created an ability to buy index, which indicated the main reason some people have more money to put towards a home than they did five years ago as record low mortgage rates.

However, this has not been enough to help some. For a family with two children and one parent working full-time and the other part-time, their ability to buy has decreased by 6% in the last year, meaning they are 5% worse off than at the previous election.¹

Director at Hamptons, Fionnuala Earley, explains: “For working families with children, the growing costs of childcare eats into the amount of money left at the end of the month to service a mortgage.”¹

¹http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/apr/20/april-house-price-average-at-all-time-high-of-over-286000