Blog

Details

Published: 11 November 2021

Hits: 1183

Property Expert David Plaister says that the housing industry should  prepare for some potential changes after Michael Gove was  promoted to housing secretary, replacing Robert Jenrick in the government reshuffle.

Mr Gove, who has left his role as chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster to replace Jenrick, “takes on cross-government responsibility for levelling up”. He also “retains ministerial responsibility for the Union and elections, as the governments housing carousel continues to evolve as yet another one ‘bites the dust’ and it of course remains to be seen if there will be additional casualties further down-stream.

“Michael Gove is known as a Whitehall ‘big hitter’ with a reputation for rocking the boat so we may well see some changes and therefore expect to see more initiatives focussed on fuelling buyer demand to keep house prices buoyant and very little in terms of actually addressing the need for more housing or indeed changing the conveyancing process to a more fluid and transparent one.

David went on to say “In recent times, those charged with addressing the current housing crisis have lasted less time in their post than it takes to sell a house. No wonder the sector has been riddled with scandal and an inability to reach housing targets.”

High on Gove’s to-do list will be the pressing need to address the growing housing supply crisis in both the sales and rental market.

Ben Beadle, chief executive of the National Residential Landlords Association, said “We welcome Michael Gove to his new position and look forward to working with him to ensure the rental market works for responsible landlords and tenants alike.

“Key to this will be addressing the supply crisis in the sector by developing pro-growth policies that recognise the vital contribution it makes to housing millions of people across the country.”

Sam Le Pard co-founder of LEXI Finance, commented: “At a time when we still face a shortage of housing, material price inflation and supply chain issues, the new housing secretary will need to rapidly get to grips with their brief if they are to enable SME developers to play a key role in tackling the housing crisis.

Marc Vlessing, chief executive officer of Pocket Living, believes that the UK’s housing market is “dysfunctional and real change is needed”.

He said: “The new secretary of state has inherited his brief at a critical juncture, with a series of radical reforms currently held in stasis due to significant resistance from within a governing party unconvinced by the manner and need for change. Yet this is not the time to be timid or seek to reverse away from the fundamental issue the reforms seek to address.”

Nick Sanderson, CEO, Audley Group, concurred: “Top of Michael Gove’s agenda has to be aligning the housing and health departments. Under too many of the past leaders, these departments have operated in a fragmented way, ignoring holistic solutions which have the potential to tackle both the housing and social care crises.

David commented further by saying “The need for change is paramount but more importantly must be meaningful, bringing together housing, health and social care under one banner, marking a radical shift towards solving issues at their roots.

“Building more specialist housing would have far reaching implications: freeing up existing family homes, taking pressure off the NHS and social care systems, and importantly giving older people suitable and aspirational housing that adapts to their changing needs. For me the greatest disappointment would be seeing more of what we have come to expect from the housing department. A focus on first time buyers that ignores other vitally important parts of the housing market.”

Details

Published: 11 November 2021

Hits: 1052

Property Expert David Plaister reports that following public consultation earlier this year, draft legislation for a new residential property developer tax (RPDT) has been published by HM Treasury.

The RPDT, which is to be included in the Finance Bill 2022, is to be payable from 1 April 2022 by residential property developers on their UK residential property development profits that exceed an unspecified allowance, with the final design of the tax – including tax rate – to be announced at the Autumn 2021 Budget.

The government first proposed the residential property developer tax in an effort to respond to growing concerns over the costs for cladding repairs, and the potential burden on leaseholders, and details have finally been set out in draft legislation published as part of a technical public consultation earlier this week.

It is understood a final policy decision is yet to be made on whether it will apply to build-to-rent developers.

There is a chance to comment on the details in the draft legislation up to 15 October and the government has produced explanatory notes.

As part of the Autumn Budget on 27 October, the chancellor Rishi Sunak will set out the final details, including the rate of tax and the specific allowances, and this is to be included in the 2021-2022 Finance Bill.

Details

Published: 27 October 2021

Hits: 1196

Property Expert David Plaister reports on The government’s announcement that it will offer households in England and Wales grants of £5,000 from next April to help them replace old gas boilers with low carbon heat pumps. 

As part of its Heat and Buildings Strategy, £450m has been allocated to the boiler upgrade scheme, which will run over three years and serve 90,000 homes.The government says this will boost demand for the pumps, but critics say the plan does not go far enough. 

Homeowners will be encouraged to switch to a heat pump or other low-carbon technology when their current boiler needs replacing. An air-source heat pump costs between £6,000 and £18,000, depending on the type installed and the size of a property.

Writing in the Sun, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: “The Greenshirts of the Boiler Police are not going to kick in your door with their sandal-clad feet and seize, at carrot-point, your trusty old combi.” But with around 27.8 million households in the UK, as per the latest figures from the Office of National Statistics, and only enough funding for 90,000 homes, who will be eligible for the grants?

All homeowners, small landlords and private landlords in England and Wales will be eligible for the Boiler Upgrade scheme. However, it will not be made available to social housing and new build properties. Companies installing the heat pumps will apply for the grant on behalf of their customers, and the grant amount will be discounted from the total price homeowners pay.

The government scheme will replace systems that use fossil fuels, such as gas boilers, as these are damaging to the environment because they release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. But the government has stressed that households will not be forced to remove them. Instead, it aims for the sale of new gas boilers to end in the coming 14 years.

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy said the boiler scheme will support the government’s target for all new heating systems installed in UK homes by 2035 to use low-carbon technologies such as heat pumps. The upgrade scheme comes into effect in April 2022.

David Plaister went on to say “the current energy crisis has demonstrated just how far behind the UK is on future-proofing homes from fossil-fuel dependency. Unfortunately, the lack of government investment in insulation and heat-pump technology means the UK has some of the most inefficient housing stock in Western Europe and therefore the initiative of these plans to future proof homes is certainly a step in the right direction.

Should homeowners take this into their own hands, there are many ways they can raise the sustainability of their home and in the long term save money. With the winter months on the horizon, home insulation would be a great investment, and although the upfront cost can start from a few hundred pounds, a household could expect to save circa £150 a year”.

Details

Published: 11 March 2021

Hits: 1783