John Elliott, Managing Director of Millwood Designer Homes, has decided to share his views and discuss the recent Government claims on house builders land banking in the UK. He explains that land banking is usually associated “with the claim that house builders deliberately hold onto land after being granted planning
The latest figures released from the Halifax Housing Market Confidence Tracker has seen confidence in the UK house prices fall to its lowest level since December 2012. These figures falling to a five-year low is another warning about the strength of the UK economy. The figures from this Confidence Tracker
After the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester, Theresa May announced that she is fully committed to supporting the UK housing Industry and ensuring that they government will get back into creating more houses. The Prime Minister has announced her commitment to reignite home ownership and the Government will be finding
BDC 319 : Aug 2024
John Elliott, Managing Director of Millwood Designer Homes, has decided to share his views and discuss the recent Government claims on house builders land banking in the UK. He explains that land banking is usually associated “with the claim that house builders deliberately hold onto land after being granted planning permission for commercial benefit or profit, if house prices increase”. However, accusing developers of storing up land is not the right way to tackle the current housing market. Unfortunately, this is exactly what the Government and the Mayor of London have been doing in recent months. John said that together with Millwood they are always on the lookout for more land in Kent, Sussex and further into Surrey. The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government ordered a review that will look into the gap between planning permissions granted and the number of new homes being built, hoping to find out why more homes are not being delivered. Even though the Government has planned to increase the supply of new homes over the next few years, John believes that “the starting point for this will be delivering more land with consent in the right places. The South East continues to perform extremely well and more Londoners are exiting the capital and moving to the Home Counties. If this is where people want to live and are areas where demand is currently outweighing supply, the Government need to do more to provide the land for house builders to meet strong buyer demand.” What he believes is the reason behind this issue is the amount of “conditions that come with the consent as well as utility companies sometimes taking months before they start work, these are typically the primary causes of the delay, which can drag on, in some cases up to 2 years after planning consent is formally granted.”
The latest figures released from the Halifax Housing Market Confidence Tracker has seen confidence in the UK house prices fall to its lowest level since December 2012. These figures falling to a five-year low is another warning about the strength of the UK economy. The figures from this Confidence Tracker show that one in five respondents feel that prices will drop during an increase in inflation and expected hikes in the interest rates. The UK housing market has been widely reported on for some time and has been scrutinised many times over during the past year. The scrutiny has taken place after the EU referendum saw optimism decline significantly. The general public expected a slowdown in the market, and the wider economy as a whole. It is disappointing to see optimism decline after the EU referendum results, even though a number of industry professionals, including the Managing Director for Millwood Designer Homes, John Elliott, who feels that the Prime Minister Theresa May will manage to obtain a good deal during the UK’s exit from the EU. John Elliott has said that Millwood Homes has seen a sales boost following the Brexit announcement and has seen an increase in the amount of footfall seen at the company’s show homes. It is thought that the lack of confidence in the housing market is originating from the younger generation, who are struggling now more than ever to get onto the housing ladder, and putting home owning aspirations to one side. This struggle has then impacted on a negative sentiment about the housing market as a whole. However, the recent commitment from the Government with the £10 billion boost to the Help to Buy could reignite some hope and hopefully lead to a boost in confidence levels. It is thought that every generation should be feeling confident about the housing market going forward.
After the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester, Theresa May announced that she is fully committed to supporting the UK housing Industry and ensuring that they government will get back into creating more houses. The Prime Minister has announced her commitment to reignite home ownership and the Government will be finding an extra £10 billion to invest in the Help to Buy scheme. The increased investment in this scheme should help a further 135,000 people onto the property ladder. The Managing Director of Millwood Designer Homes, John Elliott has been reflecting on the Government’s plans to boost the Help to Buy Scheme as well as Theresa May’s promise to get more people owning their own homes. John has expressed his delight that Theresa May has backed the construction of more houses. One of the main points in her Party Conference speech was the restoration of hope and improving the current housing market to allow more people the opportunity to buy their own houses. This commitment to improvement is good news for Millwood Designer Homes, a small house building company. It is great to see that the Government will be making a conscious effort to provide the land needed to construct these new houses in order to meet the ambitious targets for new houses that have been set. The Help to Buy initiative is a way to assist home ownership that is supported by Millwood, and is a great way for first time buyers to get their foot on to the property ladder. The extra funding from the initiative has been announced at the right time by the Prime Minister, and has worked to instill more confidence among first time buyers and home builders, as it was thought that the needed subsidy would be becoming to an end. John Elliott feels that the extra boost to the Help to Buy initiative and the presentation of a Government committed to help British homebuilders wherever possible will lead to lead to more stability economically as well as stronger confidence in the UK housing market.
