Posts with tag: right to buy

Right to Buy scheme, ‘will erode housing associations’

Published On: January 26, 2016 at 1:58 pm

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Yesterday saw the Government announce that a pilot for the new Right to Buy scheme was to be trialled in five housing association areas.

As part of the pilot, the first housing association tenants can apply for the Right to Buy scheme, which comes ahead of a nationwide rollout later on in 2016. This follows a voluntary understanding between the Government and National Housing Federation to enlarge the Right to Buy scheme to 1.3 million housing association tenants.

Right to Buy scheme, 'will erode housing associations'

Right to Buy scheme, ‘will erode housing associations’

‘Unfortunate’

However, Stephen Smith, Director of Legal & General Housing Partnerships, described the extension as, ‘unfortunate,’ and believes the scheme will reduce the availability of affordable homes.

Smith also noted on that the scheme, ‘will ultimately erode housing associations’ ability to build homes.’ He believes, ‘this will reduce the number of affordable properties available in the UK when we need a greater supply of housing, not less.’[1]

‘Forcing the sale of homes at a reduced market value will ultimately disrupt a well functioning sector, making it harder for housing associations to allocate resources to housebuilding and more difficult for investors to lend to them. We hope that the Government reconsiders this decision before fully implementing it and instead look to other ways in which to produce affordable housing by focusing on the root cause of the housing crisis and tackling supply side issues,’ he concluded.[1]

[1] http://www.propertyreporter.co.uk/property/government-urged-to-reconsider-right-to-buy-scheme.html

 

Right to Buy pilot schemes launch

Published On: January 26, 2016 at 10:53 am

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Yesterday saw the initial pilot for the Right to Buy scheme launch in certain regions of England. This means that the first housing association tenants will be able to apply for the scheme through 5 separate housing associations, ahead of a countrywide rollout later in the year.

Agreement

This follows a voluntary understanding between the Government and the National Housing Federation, to extend the Right to Buy to 1.3 million housing association tenants. As part of this agreement, every home sold would be replaced nationally with a new affordable home.

At present, the existing Right to Buy scheme enables social housing tenants to buy their home with a discount of £103,900 in the capital and £77,900 elsewhere.

Right to Buy pilot schemes launch

Right to Buy pilot schemes launch

Communities Secretary Grey Clark observed, ‘anybody who works hard and aspires to own their own home should have the opportunity to realise their dream. The Right to Buy is central to that and has already helped more than 46,000 into homeownership since we reinvigorated the scheme in 2012. Thanks to the historic voluntary agreement with the sector a further 1.3 million housing association tenants now have the chance to open the door to their own home, starting with this trailblazing pilot scheme.’[1]

Pilot Areas

The pilot areas are being delivered by:

  • L & Q- Croydon LBC, Enfield LBC, Greenwich LBC, Haringey LBC, Lambeth LBC, Lewisham LBC, Newham LBC, Southwark LBC
  • Riverside- Liverpool CC, Halton BC, Knowsley MBC, Sefton MBC, St Helens MBC, Wirral MBC,
  • Saffron Housing- South Norfolk
  • Sovereign- Cherwell DC, West Oxfordshire DC, Vale of Horse DC, South Oxfordshire DC 
  • Thames Valley Housing Association-Guildford BC, Hart DC, Runnymede BC, Rushmoor BC, Woking BC 

[1] http://www.propertyreporter.co.uk/property/right-to-buy-launches.html

 

 

Right to Buy Could be Extended to Private Tenants

Published On: January 13, 2016 at 9:24 am

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A Conservative MP believes that the Right to Buy scheme may be extended to private tenants in the near future.

Right to Buy Could be Extended to Private Tenants

Right to Buy Could be Extended to Private Tenants

Mark Field, the MP for the Cities of London and Westminster, says the policy that allows tenants to buy their homes at a discount could soon be extended to those living in properties provided by private landlords.

Speaking in the House of Commons yesterday, where the Housing and Planning Bill was being debated, Field stated: “It has already been mooted, I think, by the opposition benches that buy-to-let landlords should be forced to sell their homes to tenants.

“I think that would be entirely wrong, but I think it would probably be an extension of what we are proposing.”

A key measure of the Housing and Planning Bill is to extend Right to Buy to housing association tenants.

Field believes the policy would reduce housing stock and result in properties being rented out to high earners.

He observed: “That’s what has happened to many of the housing estates in my own constituency, where essentially, the second or third buyer after a Right to Buy has been, dare I say it, a well-paid yuppie.”1

Field added that extending Right to Buy to social housing tenants would be unfair on private renters, whose voices are not heard so loudly.

Yesterday, the Housing and Planning Bill made it through its third reading in the House of Common and is now due to go to the House of Lords.

Alongside the extension to the Right to Buy scheme, it will introduce banning orders on landlords and letting agents, and implement fines of up to £30,000 for rogue landlords or agents.

For the latest changes to landlord law and daily updates, remember to check LandlordNews.co.uk.

1 http://markfieldmp.com/news-a-articles/housing-and-planning-bill/

 

 

Right to Buy programme a success

Published On: September 22, 2015 at 10:02 am

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New figures published by the Government indicate that the Right to Buy programme in Britain has created almost 40,000 new homeowners during the last three years.

Housing Minister Brandon Lewis said this total is more evidence of how Government initiatives aimed at assisting would-be homeowners are working. Mr Lewis noted that there have been 3,644 new starts and acquisitions since the Right to Buy scheme was revitalised in 2012.

Positivity

Lewis explained that this means the 3,054 homes sold in the first year of the scheme are already being replaced on a one-for-one basis.

‘For years, the discounts available under the Right to Buy were left to dwindle, denying thousands of people the opportunity to own their own home, ‘Lewis noted. He feels that, ‘this reinvigorated scheme has turned that around and means nearly 40,000 people have been able to buy the home they love, many of whom might otherwise never have had the chance to become homeowners. On top of that, it’s getting homes built, with councils replacing the additional homes sold on a one for one basis.’[1]

In addition, data shows that since the reinvigoration of the Right to Buy scheme, almost £964m in sales has been re-invested into the construction of new homes. A further £2.2bn is to be invested in the next three years. This means that in total, in excess of £3.2bn will be raised to invest in affordable housing building as a result of Right to Buy.[1]

Right to Buy programme a success

Right to Buy programme a success

Success

In the three months to June this year, 2,779 households purchased property under the Right to Buy scheme. As a result, local authorities received £223m from these sales, 5% higher than the £212 in the same period during 2014.

Mr Lewis also pointed that since 2010 the Government has launched a range of measures to assist aspiring homeowners to purchase their own home. Overall, since the beginning of 2010, 232,000 households have been helped to take their first step onto the property ladder through the Help to Buy and Right to Buy schemes.

What’s more, the Government has promised to build 200,000 new starter homes, available to first-time buyers under the age of 40 at a 20% discount. Additionally, a new Help to Buy ISA will be introduced to assist a further number of would-be homeowners to save up for a deposit.

[1] http://www.propertywire.com/news/europe/uk-right-buy-programme-2015092111002.html

 

 

 

Right to Buy extension slammed

Published On: June 2, 2015 at 11:34 am

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In his address to the House of Lords today, Lord Kerslake is widely expected to show his displeasure towards the extension of the Right to Buy scheme. It was confirmed in last week Queen’s Speech that the scheme is to be extended to 1.3 million housing association tenants.

Nonsensical

One of the UK’s rural housing policy experts also believes that the planned extension of the scheme is largely nonsensical. Additionally, Professor Mark Shucksmith, Director of the Newcastle University Institute for Social Renewal, feels that the plan will be ultimately disastrous for those living in rural areas.

Professor Shucksmith said that, ‘there is already a shortage of affordable housing, especially in rural areas where there is little social housing. Rural house prices are on average 26% higher than in urban areas and the ratio of house prices to local earnings is even worse.’ He went on to say that, ‘disposing of housing association stock, at great cost to the taxpayer, will make the impact on rural communities much more serious.’[1]

Continuing, Shucksmith stated that, ‘we are already seeing those on low and medium incomes and especially young people, priced out of small towns and villages across the UK. With housing association properties sold off and unlikely to be replaced in any substantial quantities, the wealth divide in rural communities will deepen even further.’[1]

Right to Buy extension slammed

Right to Buy extension slammed

Detrimental to local employers

Alongside arguing that the forced sale of housing association properties will affect the demographic make-up of rural communities, Professor Shucksmith also feels that the knock-on effect for employers will also be detrimental. He notes that, ‘in it’s Rural Policy Statement in 2012, the Government recognised the social and economic importance if affordable rural housing. With rural areas becoming increasingly socially exclusive, local businesses-from farms and shops to accountants and software developers-will find it even harder to attract the young, skilled ambitious people they need.’[1]

Concluding, Shucksmith said that, ‘we urgently need more affordable homes to be built, not the disposal of the few that remain in rural areas..’ He feels that the Government should, ‘reconsider the Right to Buy extension and instead implement the recent recommendations made by the Rural Housing Policy Review group, to provide more affordable rural housing.’[1]

[1] http://www.propertyreporter.co.uk/property/will-right-to-buy-housing-policy-be-disastrous-for-rural-communities.html

 

 

 

Property Industry Welcomes Housing Bill

Published On: June 1, 2015 at 8:27 am

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The UK is set for an increase in supply of new starter homes for young first time buyers, revealed the Queen’s Speech last week.

A number of property issues were mentioned in the opening of the new Parliament on Wednesday, which have received a positive reaction from property experts.

First time buyers under 40-years-old will be offered new starter homes at a 20% discount of their open market value. The Right to Buy scheme will also be extended to 1.3m housing association tenants.

Property Industry Welcomes Housing Bill

Property Industry Welcomes Housing Bill

The Government is also going ahead with the Right to Build scheme, which requires local planning authorities to support self builders registered in their area in finding suitable plots to build or commission their own homes.

A statutory register of brownfield land will also be introduced, in a bid to achieve the aim of getting Local Development Orders in place on 90% of all appropriate brownfield plots by 2020.

Furthermore, the neighbourhood planning system will be simplified and sped up to help communities meet local housing and development needs.

The property and housing industries have reacted positively and they agree that hundreds of thousands more homes needs to be built, especially in London.

But Director of Your Move and Reeds Rains estate agents, Adrian Gill, wonders whether these new schemes are enough: “Building a home in Britain is about 18% more expensive than in Ireland, for example. Preliminaries like planning fees account for 12% of the total costs in the UK, compared to 10% in Ireland. Reforming the red tape surrounding the house building process may be one of the only safeguards around steadier house price rises.”

He adds: “Homeownership is still a key life milestone and aspiration for UK households, so any measures that bring this goal closer into view will be very welcome. The Right to Buy extension sounds good on paper, but we’ve yet to see how this will translate in practise, and the reality is that authorities will have to sell off existing stock first before they can fund and deliver this new promised land of affordable properties.

“At the same time, tenant demand for housing will be accumulating, and this could spill over into the private rented sector and artificially push up prices and competition for rental homes.”1 

Chairman of the Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association (IMLA), Charles Haresnape, believes the Government should work quickly with the mortgage industry to ensure finance is available for consumers: “If not, we will be left with more schemes that are implemented in a hurry with lenders and brokers having to play catch-up.”

He is also unsure about the Help to Buy mortgage guarantee scheme, which could hold no certainty for the future: “Reviving Help to Buy certainly promises another short term boost to homeownership, but there must be a more joined up approach to increasing the long-term housing supply rather than focusing on short-term demand.”1

1 http://www.propertywire.com/news/europe/uk-housing-bill-launch-2015052710557.html