Will the property market benefit from the government's housing White Paper?

March 1, 2017 by Brendan O'Neill

Property Market

The housing White Paper, produced by Sajid Javid, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local government, was recently published and promised to deliver a “bold, radical vision to fix the broken housing market”. As the original document is 104 pages long, here are some snippets of information.

There was more news about the starter homes initiative, which was launched to support those who are under the age of 40 and considering buying a home. According to the White Paper, the construction of the starter homes will definitely commence during 2017, although they will only be available to buyers with an income of £80,000 or less, or £90,000 if living in London.

Although the government originally stated that it would build “200,000 new starter homes by 2020”, this has been changed to “affordable housing” being built.

Renters will have greater protection, as letting agent fees will no longer be paid by tenants. Further to this ban, the government has also introduced banning orders which are aimed at putting those agents and landlords who behave unscrupulously, out of business.

The delays during the development process will be reduced where possible, and builders will have to commence construction within two years of receiving planning permission, rather than the three years currently standing.

Mortgage advisers will have more details of the government’s White Paper and its contents, in addition to many of the other regulations, which they learn about as part of their CeMAP training.