Jobs, Growth and Social inclusion

Government unveils a 'Get Britain Building' housing strategy

Government unveils a 'Get Britain Building' housing strategy

The Government has seized on the slogan of the Get Britain Building Campaign for a central part of its strategy to tackle the housing crisis.

Later today the Government will detail a raft of measures designed to get more homes built in England.

 

These include plans for a revamped council right-to-buy scheme, offering homes at 50% of their value, and a Government-backed mortgage indemnity scheme for first time buyers.

 

Another central part of the ‘Laying the Foundations' new housing strategy is a £400m Get Britain Building fund.

 

This will be targeted to help smaller house builders bridge funding gaps on ready-to-go construction sites. It is estimated it could trigger construction of 16,000 homes including 3,200 affordable properties.

 

The cash will be released in the hope of getting sites started by next July, and is expected to support up to 32,000 new jobs.

 

The Government claims its new housing strategy will deliver up to 450,000 homes by 2015.

 

Mike Leonard, spokesman for the The Get Britain Building Campaign, said: "We have been calling for the Government to stand behind a mortgage guarantee scheme and to provide much-needed funds to facilitate the building of more homes.

 

"Today's housing strategy and the launch of two new schemes is of course very welcome.

 

"It is clear from our discussions with Government that the coalition recognises the positive effect on jobs and economic growth that will result from a strong new build housing market.

 

But he warned the Government was failing to harness the housing industry's full potential to kick-start wider economic growth and create new jobs for the country.

 

"We will continue to campaign for a much bigger programme of house building, particularly in the social sector, where we believe the Government needs to commit to an additional 25000 homes being built in 2012.

 

"Only with this sort of impetus will we see the economy get going again and jobs return.

 

"It will take this sort of building rate to begin to deal with the deepening housing crisis."

 

Both the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister have put their names to the housing strategy report.

 

In the foreward they say: "One of the most important things each generation can do for the next is to build high quality homes.

 

"But for decades in Britain we have under-built. By the time we came to office, house-building rates had reached lows not seen in peace time since the 1920s.

 

"The economic and social consequences of this failure have affected millions: costing jobs; forcing growing families to live in cramped conditions; leaving young people without much hope that they will ever own a home of their own.

 

"These problems - entrenched over decades - have deepened over the past few years. The housing market is one of the biggest victims of the credit crunch: lenders won't lend, so builders can't build and buyers can't buy.

 

"That lack of confidence is visible in derelict building sites and endless For Sale signs.

 

"It is doing huge damage to our economy and our society, so it is right for government to step in and take bold action to unblock the market."

 

Details of the strategy will be formally released later to day. The report will  include several measures announced by Government over recent months.

 

Cash from the revamped right-to-buy scheme will be fed into building new housing, creating a funding pot for a second wave of affordable housing programme deals.

The Government has pledged to replace every sold council home and build 100,000 new affordable homes at 80% of market rates.

House builders have been calling for a mortgage indemnity scheme for several months to give lenders more confidence in supporting first-time buyers.

Under the new plan, the government is expected to cover the risk for the lender, which should enable first-time buyers to take out larger mortgages relative to the value of the home.

Homeowners would first lose their deposits before the government suffered losses, which would be shared with the initial bank lender.

The report is also expected to flesh out the plan to release publicly-owned land for up to 80,000 plots.

House builders will be able to bid for land on a build now, pay later basis.

The new Government housing strategy is expected to touch on proposals to allow borrowers to use some money in their pension pots to boost deposits.

The extent of the housing crisis was brought home last week with official figures for the third quarter of the year.

Housing starts in the 12 months to September now stand at half the level under construction when the sector peaked at the end of 2005.

Actual completions are now running at the lowest level seen for several decades and have spurred Government into pledging to lead a housing revolution.

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