Members of the Family Building Society have cast serious doubt on the government’s ability to meet its pledge to build 1.5 million new homes during the current parliament, with more than 82% of survey respondents expressing scepticism about the target.
In a poll of its membership, the mutual found that a clear majority believed the target is unachievable under current policy conditions. However, respondents offered a range of proposals to help ease the country’s housing shortage, pointing to specific planning and taxation reforms they believe would unlock supply.
INCENTIVISE DOWNSIZING
Among the suggestions, more than half of those surveyed backed increased development on brownfield land and sites with existing planning permission. There was also strong support for abolishing stamp duty for downsizers — a move seen as a way to encourage older homeowners to move and release family-sized homes back into the market.
While just over a quarter (27%) supported reinstating the Help to Buy scheme, a larger proportion — 41% — prioritised reforming the planning system. Many also advocated incentivising landlords to convert commercial properties for residential use and called for increases to the infrastructure levy to provide additional funding for local communities.
Alistair Nimmo, director of marketing at the Family Building Society, said the survey showed that members considered the government’s housing strategy to be unrealistic in its current form.
“Our members have delivered a stark verdict on the government’s ambitious housebuilding target,” he said. “In their minds it is just not achievable through the current policy mix. However, they make some valid suggestions of what measures the government could take to help provide additional homes. Developing brownfield sites and repurposing existing and empty commercial property, for example. They also highlight Stamp Duty Land Tax as a major disincentive for older people to move and free up more of the existing housing stock.
“Ending the stamp duty holiday and the subsequent reinstatement of the lower thresholds on 1st April was a mistake and it is interesting to note that most of our members favoured scrapping it for downsizers which will free up more properties for growing families.”
The findings add to growing pressure on ministers to revisit the policy framework underpinning new housing delivery, particularly as high interest rates, planning delays and inflation in construction costs continue to hamper progress across the sector.
