UNITED KINGDOM
10 Steps
For Fixing UK’ s‘ Broken’ Property Market
BY MIKE SMUTS
England’ s housing market is broken, admits the Government in its much-anticipated Housing White Paper. And the reason is simple:“ For too long, we haven’ t built enough homes”.
Weighing in at 104 pages, the paper is still open for consultation and the proposals set out are far from set in stone. Yet the broad tone of the Paper was clear – policymakers are committed to boosting development.
Since the Seventies, an average of 160,000 new homes a year have been built in England, far below the implied target of 200,000 the UK Government set itself after the Barker Report in 2004. A growing population, rising immigration and rising incomes have increased demand for housing in England even further in recent decades. Research now points to a
figure of 275,000 new homes needed every year to both keep up with the country’ s growing population and catch up with years of under supply.
While the housing shortage is particularly acute in London, it is also getting worse across the country.
The main points covered in the Housing White Paper:
1 Identify areas where housing is needed most: Councils will be required to produce a realistic plan for housing demand and review it at least every five years.
2 Protection of the green belt: Commitment to the green belt is confirmed:“ Only in exceptional circumstances may councils alter green belt boundaries.”
44 MARCH 2017 SA Real Estate Investor www. reimag. co. za