Tag Archives: government
£26 million fund announced to boost UK starter home programme
A £26 million fund for house builders in the UK has been launched to pave the way for the first wave of new starter homes aimed at first time buyers. Communities Secretary Greg Clark said high quality homes will be available for first time buyers and the fund will make sure that a range of different types of properties can be accessed. The fund will support architects, developers, councils, housing associations and small builders to build properties that will increase the quality of design as the government delivers on its pledge to build 200,000 starter homes by 2020. It will be used to acquire brownfield sites to provide land for starter homes. Money from the sales of these sites will go back to the government, securing good value for the taxpayer. In a further move to support aspiring home owners the government has also made available up to £10 million for local authorities to prepare more brownfield land for development of starter homes. ‘We are committed to delivering 200,000 starter homes by the end of this Parliament, providing a real boost to aspiring young first time buyers. This competitive fund will build homes that will clearly show the wide range of new properties that will be available for first-time buyers as they take their first step on the housing ladder,’ said Clark. ‘We are also helping bring back into use more brownfield land for development, keeping the country building and delivering the homes our communities need,’ he added. Helping young people achieve their dream of home ownership is a priority for the government, according to Housing Minister Brandon Lewis who added that already more than 100,000 households have been helped to buy a home through the flagship Help to Buy scheme and starter homes should be another game changer. ‘This fund will help kick start that change and show young people across the country the quality they can expect when they buy a starter home. It’s further proof that this government’s long term economic plan is on track,’ he added. The Homes and Communities Agency (HCA), said it will support the starter home initiative by offering its land and development expertise and this will help even more first time buyers into affordable home ownership. ‘We look forward to working with our key delivery partners including councils, developers, housing associations, small builders and architects in taking this forward, through the identification and purchase of land suitable for exemplar starter home sites,’ said HCA chief executive Andy Rose. According to Stephen Stone, chief executive of construction firm Crest Nicholson, the announcement will not only help first time buyers get onto the property ladder, but it will also accelerate further output across the industry at a time when housing need is at an all time high. The government’s new Housing Bill and proposed national planning policy changes will introduce a series of planning reforms that will ensure hundreds of thousands of starter homes will be built. These include requiring local… Continue reading
Small developers could be hindered by UK court ruling on affordable homes
The UK courts have delivered a blow to small residential developers, potentially making schemes of up to 10 homes economically unviable, according to legal experts. The decision, which concerns the exemption small residential developers have previously had from contributions towards affordable housing, will particularly affect urban residential development and small rural sites, according to law firm Coffin Mew. The exemption was introduced by the government to encourage residential developers to bring forward smaller housing schemes and to redevelop compact urban and rural spaces to help meet the chronic housing shortage. However, two local authorities, Reading and West Berkshire, have successfully challenged this exemption, arguing that it would have a negative effect on affordable housing numbers. ‘This decision is a major blow for smaller residential developers looking to bring forward schemes in urban environments,’ said Nick Leavey, partner and head of commercial property at law firm Coffin Mew. ‘The economic viability of small schemes is often on a knife edge, and this decision is likely to pull the rug from underneath those difficult to develop sites. It is also likely to have a negative effect on land values for future deals, exacerbating the housing crisis in the South East further. Nobody wins from this decision,’ he added. Meanwhile, real estate industry in the UK has seen an 11% growth in jobs due to the recovery in the property market. Jobsite Indeed research found that opportunities for trainee estate agents, quantity surveyors and property managers are among the top five. London, Manchester and Birmingham top the list for vacancies. Also, the number of people actively looking for careers in this industry has increased 10% since 2014, which the firm says suggests that job seekers are starting to realise the potential within this market. ‘The return of positive conditions in the UK housing market for both buyers and sellers, suggest it’s prime time for job seekers in this sector to take advantage of such opportunities,’ said Gerard Murnaghan, Indeed’s vice president for the EMEA region. Continue reading
English landlords who don’t follow new immigration checks face jail
Landlords in England who repeatedly fail to check a new tenant’s immigration status before agreeing a lease could face up to five years in jail, it has been confirmed. As part of a wider crackdown on immigration, new rules for landlords mean that they will also be expected to evict tenants who lose the right to live in England. They will be able to end tenancies, sometimes without a court order, when asylum requests fail, according to Communities Secretary Greg Clark as he announced that the government will not tolerate rogue landlords who make money out of illegal immigration. The changes which hare part of the new Immigration Bill and follow a pilot in the West Midlands come as the British and French governments struggle to deal with a migrant crisis in Calais where large numbers of people are making nightly bids to cross the Channel to reach the UK. Clark explained that under the proposals for landlords in England, the Home Office would issue a notice when an asylum application fails that confirms the tenant no longer has the right to rent property. He also said that a blacklist of rogue landlords and letting agents will be created to allow councils to keep track of those who have been convicted of housing offences and ban them from renting out properties if they are repeat offenders. Richard Lambert, chief executive of the National Landlords Association, described the proposals as a welcome step forward, although he said he is ‘slightly concerned’ that the 40 year old principle that it has to be a court that ends a tenancy is changing. He suggests that there is a danger that those being evicted end up doing something desperate such as barricading themselves inside a property. ‘I think that we need to think through the consequences of the kind of systems we are putting into place,’ he added. David Cox, managing director, Association of Residential Letting Agents, welcomed the proposals in principle. ‘The plans will help to weed out the minority of rogue landlords who exploit vulnerable immigrants for their own financial gain and, with the introduction of a new five year imprisonment penalty, will help to deter other such unscrupulous individuals from entering the private rented sector,’ he said. ‘The proposals also build upon the Right to Rent checks as imposed by the Immigration Act 2014, which we expect to be rolled out nationally following a pilot scheme in the West Midlands. We will be organising training sessions for our members to ensure they are fully prepared and understand the new rules and we urge all letting agents to ensure they are ready for the impending roll out,’ he added. Continue reading
