2016 in Property – A Budget Wishlist

2016 in Property – A Budget Wishlist

Have a look at the UK property industry’s wishlist for Chancellor George Osborne’s budget announcements.

1. Reversal of recent Government stamp duty changes

The recent reforms made to UK stamp duty are having a damaging impact on the overall housing market and should be reviewed.

The changes to Stamp Duty Land Tax announced in the 2014 and 2015 Autumn Statements have already noticeably chipped the confidence of both domestic and foreign buyers.

Due to those developments, buyers might now be wondering: what next?

In addition, even The Treasury itself has lost more than £0.5bn in revenue during the period.

2. More pragmatic support for SME developers

Over the past 2 years, there has been a series of policy announcements to help smaller developers. However, the question is how effective those changes will be in practise?

As an example, measure aimed at giving SME housebuilders the opportunity to take on projects they were previously unable to by offering sites with planning permission from public land are a clear move in the right direction. But so far only 13,000 homes have been directly commissioned by the Government across only 5 sites, a fairly insignificant amount considering targets of building one million more homes by 2020.

To successfully address the housing crisis in the UK, the Government needs to be more direct in its approach to supporting small and medium sized developers – by funding the solutions to the viability gaps on these sites, investing in the appropriate infrastructure and boosting the home and communities agency’s treasuries so they are able to provide funding alongside private financiers.

3. New approach to finding brownfield sites

In early 2015, the Coalition Government announced plans to acquire planning permission on 90% of brownfield land. One year later 28 housing zones have been identified which could create 45,000 homes.

Many of these site will be brought to life in public private partnerships and request specialist financial structures which are only possible through a thorough understanding of development and security, to help financiers to get comfortable with the revenue and risk of the projects. Nevertheless, some of the most innovative financiers in the current market (like alternative non-bank lenders) haven’t been invited to the table.

Working with a bigger number and a variety of financiers could be the key to opening up development of brownfield sites and the government acknowledge this.

Source: City A.M.

Self-certified Sophisticated Investor

Please read

I declare that I am a self-certified sophisticated investor for the purposes of the restriction on promotion of non-mainstream pooled investments. I understand that this means:

I am a self-certified sophisticated investor because at least one of the following applies:

I accept that the investments to which the promotions will relate may expose me to a significant risk of losing all of the money or other property invested. I am aware that it is open to me seek advice from someone who specialises in advising on non-mainstream pooled investments.

High Net Worth Investor

Please read

I make this statement so that I can receive promotional communications which are exempt from the restriction on promotion of non-mainstream pooled investments. The exemption relates to certified high net worth investors and I declare that I qualify as such because at least one of the following applies to me:

aerial-view-uk-houses

STAY AHEAD OF THE MARKET

Sign-up for first access to new developments and exclusive property investment opportunities.

We send limited and targeted emails on new launches and exclusive deals which best fit your areas. We are trusted by over 30,000 active buyers as their source for new stock.

  • New property developments
  • Professional market reports
  • Property deal alerts
  • Development updates
UK holiday let

FIRST FOR NEWS AND KNOWLEDGE.

Receive trending news straight to your inbox and stay up to date on all of the property market trends and advice.

Established since 2005 we are a leading voice of authority and commentary on the UK property market. Our news is trusted by Apple News & Google News.

  • UK housing market
  • Mortgage & money
  • Buy-to-let landlords
  • Guides & advice

Talk to us

Speak to our UK property experts today:

 

+44 (0) 333 123 0320

Open from 9am-6pm GMT

 

+852 6699 9008

Open from 9am-6pm HKT