Before the election, property experts Rightmove carried out a survey to ascertain what this new government’s priorities should be when it comes to housing. Here is a roundup of what the nation is hoping for.
Before the election, property experts Rightmove carried out a survey to ascertain what this new government’s priorities should be when it comes to housing. Here is a roundup of what the nation is hoping for.
Speed up housebuilding
One of the top recommendations was making improvements to the housebuilding process1. Buyer demand has increased by 15% since 2019, but the number of available homes has not increased at the same rate. In fact, supply is 6% lower than before the pandemic. The rental market has experienced a similar challenge – tenant demand is 32% higher than 2019 but supply of rented homes is down 38%.
As a result, asking prices and rents have increased. To solve this, Rightmove’s property expert Tim Bannister suggests “smoother planning processes to transform the delivery of new homes and produce more affordable housing”.
Help for first-time buyers
Another top priority was providing better support for first-time buyers (FTBs). It is perhaps unsurprising that this was the most popular request from renters, as now is a particularly challenging time to get a foot on the property ladder and the average age of FTBs is increasing2.
Rightmove’s mortgage expert, Matt Smith commented, “it’s critical that the government works with regulators and lenders from day one on any mortgage solutions, to ensure buy in and take up, which will in turn create more options for first-time buyers.”
Reform Stamp Duty
Many have called for changes to Stamp Duty1. FTBs in England and Northern Ireland have been exempt from Stamp Duty on homes up to £425,000 since 2022. But this exemption (due to end in April 2025) is not beneficial for most FTBs in the capital, where house prices are higher than the rest of the UK.
With this in mind, Tim Bannister reflects, “With such regional differences in property prices, increasing Stamp Duty thresholds in line with these regional differences would seem a logical first step for Stamp Duty reform.”
Make homes greener
Homeowners and renters would like to see the government put some incentives in place to encourage people to make their properties greener. Following Rishi Sunak’s announcement that private rented properties will no longer have to meet the minimum EPC rating of C, many landlords have put their plans to improve energy efficiency on the back burner.
Rightmove commented, ‘Homeowners also need better and easier access to schemes that enable them to make green improvements, with the recognition that each home requires different improvements and that currently the upfront costs are a big barrier to change.’
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1 Rightmove, 2BS
