Liverpool’s housing market and construction experts have reacted to Chancellor George Osborne’s Autumn Statement.

In his agenda the Chancellor revealed the government’s plan to build 400,000 affordable new homes across England and that the housing budget will double to £2 billion per year, declaring ‘we choose to build’.

The city’s residential experts have given a mixed response to the Autumn Statement:

Daniel Hynd, managing director of Promenade Estates, believes that while building homes and injecting investment into the housing market is important, addressing the rental market must be high on the government’s plan.

“The news that the government will focus on housing and commit to building 400,000 new homes across England will no doubt help the ‘home ownership crisis’ in some way. While building future homes is important, addressing the needs of renters should also be on the government’s agenda.

“The government can’t ignore the growing private rented sector and the appeal of renting. There is an increasing desire for properties which are flexible and high quality, especially amongst young professionals, who want to live close to where they work.

“While some turn to renting because they can’t afford a deposit, many rent as a lifestyle choice. It’s important that the government and developers adapt to these evolving models of home ownership.

“Investigating more options for ‘generation rent’ until they can afford, or wish to buy is just as important as building new homes. PRS encourages large scale, long-term investors which result in high quality properties and consistent living standards, which in turn, improves the relationship between landlords and renters.”

Karen Campbell-Williams, North West head of tax at business advisors Grant Thornton, believes investment in the housing market is a step in right direction but hopes the figures are met.

“The range of measures to get people on the housing ladder is eye catching – and perhaps eye watering for some. The change in Stamp Duty for second homes and buy-to-let properties is a big step and will have an impact in the market.

“It’s commendable that the government is trying to open up the market but there are plenty of people who do buy-to-let as a business and that’s on top of the proposed changes to tax relief on interest that was previously announced.

“Doubling the housing budget to £2 billion a year to deliver 400,000 new affordable homes by 2020 and release of public land to allow the construction of 160,000 new homes will have an impact. Let’s hope those figures stand up to scrutiny.”

Brian Berry, chief executive of the Federation of Master Builders (FMB), warns a skills shortage in construction work will scupper the Chancellor’s plans for 400,00 new homes by 2020.

“Faced with some difficult decisions regarding public spending cuts, today the Chancellor was right to ‘choose housing’ by prioritising investment in new affordable homes.

“The Government has confirmed plans to build 200,000 starter homes with 20% discounts for under-40s, 135,000 shared ownership homes, 10,000 rent-to-buy homes and 8,000 specialist properties for the elderly and disabled.

“This amounts to a £7bn public investment in new homes – a concerted effort to give aspirational home owners a helping hand onto the housing ladder.”

“Nevertheless, ‘George the Builder’ will need a new generation of ‘real’ builders to make his vision for housing a reality. We’re already seeing housing developments starting to stall because the cost of hiring skilled tradespeople is threatening to make some sites simply unviable.

“Unless we see a massive uplift in apprenticeship training in our industry, there won’t be enough pairs of hands to deliver more housing on this scale. That’s why we’re keen for the Government to tread carefully when applying the new proposed Apprenticeship Levy to the construction industry.”

“The Chancellor clearly recognises that the crisis of home ownership is inextricably linked to a crisis in house building. We therefore hope that in order to address both, the Government will do everything it can to increase house building capacity.”

David Lathwood, lead director for the North West at JLL, has welcomed the proposed investment in the housing market, but is disappointed by the lack of support for the rented sector.

“The announcement of new housing is welcome news, particularly in the North West given the long-term imbalance between supply and demand.

“However, I’m disappointed by the lack of support of the private rented sector and social housing in favour of home ownership.

“Long-term private rented sector backing through the planning system and the release of more public land is needed in the region in order to create the right kind of residential supply that can appeal to graduates as well as families.

“This crucial in attracting and retaining the businesses who move to the North West and will be needed to ensure the region’s economic strength.”

Anna Duffy, head of property at law firm DTM Legal, which has an office in Liverpool, believes investing in the housing market will boost the region’s economy.

“Investing in a substantial housebuilding programme will help address one of the major issues facing the region and generate significant economic growth.

“Earlier this year, the National Housing Federation predicted tackling the North West housing crisis would boost the region’s economy by up to £312 million and create over 6,000 full-time jobs.

“Today’s announcements are a major step to achieving this, which will provide much-needed affordable homes for residents, bring wealth to the local areas and improve job prospects across the North West.”

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