More
help for first-time buyers and plans to create more homes on the High Street
have been announced in the Budget.
Most
first-time buyers of shared ownership properties will now no longer pay stamp
duty, under the measures unveiled.
Predicting
an "end to austerity", Chancellor Philip Hammond said Britain's
housing market needs to be fixed, adding it was key to boosting UK productivity
and pushing up living standards.
The Help to Buy equity loan scheme will be extended for two
years in a modified form and close in 2023.
As part of its Budget measures, the government indicated that
the terms of the initiative would change from 2021 to 2023, with the scheme
being switched to first time buyers only, and “for houses with a market value
up to new regional property price caps”.
Other key points include:
- All first-time buyers
purchasing shared equity homes of up to £500,000 to be exempt from stamp
duty
- £500m for the Housing
Infrastructure Fund, designed to enable a further 650,000 homes to be
built
- Lettings relief limited to
properties where the owner is in shared occupancy with the tenant
- New partnerships with housing
associations in England to deliver 13,000 homes
- Guarantees of up to £1bn for
smaller house-builders.
- Private finance initiative
(PFI) contracts to be abolished in future
- New centre of excellence to
manage existing deals "in the taxpayer's interest"
- A £30bn package for England's
roads, including repairs to motorways and potholes
- A 30% growth in
infrastructure spending.
The
Royal Institute of British Architects has warned of grave consequences to
architecture should the UK leave the EU without a Brexit deal.
The
Institute welcomed some positive announcements for housing but remains
concerned that it does not deliver the certainty needed for businesses in the
event of a no-deal Brexit.
RIBA
President, Ben Derbyshire says: “The Chancellor’s warnings around a ‘no deal’
Brexit has overshadowed the announcements made today and reflects the grave
consequences that this would have on our economy including our world-leading
architecture sector.
"That
said, I welcome confirmation of the removal of the Housing Revenue Account
borrowing cap for local authorities. This predicted £4.6bn boost has the
potential to enable ambitious councils to deliver new, affordable homes. The
RIBA and its members will continue to work with the Government and local
authorities to promote quality design in the delivery of new housing.
"The
end of PFI will be welcomed by many RIBA members – I hope that the government
will now look more closely at how the public sector procures new buildings to
ensure that we learn the lessons of PFI and put quality and real value for
money at the heart of the process.
"I
am pleased to see the Chancellor’s recognition of Sir Oliver Letwin’s final
recommendations on reforming the housing market, which positively references
the RIBA’s newly published report, ‘Ten characteristics of places where people
want to live’. I hope the Letwin Review report will help inform how the
Government spend the promised £675 million future High Streets Fund.
"It
has become clear the permitted development of office to residential housing has
led to terrible homes. The Government’s consultation on commercial property and
upward development must avoid a repeat of these failings by ensuring proper
oversight of projects.”
Julie
Hirigoyen, chief executive at UKGBC pointed out that three weeks after the
IPCC’s landmark report highlighted the urgent need to tackle climate change and
the subsequent ambitions announced by the Minister for Energy and Clean Growth,
the budget is notable by the absence of any substantial clean growth measures.
"Indeed,
a number of important policies have been hit, with the scrapping of Enhanced
Capital Allowances, making it harder for companies to invest in energy
efficiency improvements, and the Chancellor signalling his intention to weaken
Carbon Price Support," she continued. "This is at odds with the scale
of the climate challenge and the urgency with which it needs to be tackled.
"In
the absence of leadership on clean growth in today’s Budget, it is now more
important than ever that businesses show real leadership in reducing emissions.
"The
construction and property industry has a huge part to play; we urgently need to
begin decarbonising our buildings on a path to net zero emissions. UKGBC’s
Advancing Net Zero project is garnering cross-industry support for progressing
action on net zero carbon buildings, and we will continue to engage with
policymakers to ensure that the UK’s clean growth ambitions are realised.”
