The Government is set to unveil plans placing greater emphasis on affordable housing for renters and as well as offering incentives to pensioners with large homes to downsize as part of its long awaited housing white paper.
The paper, due to be released this week, will include proposals to amend planning rules so councils can build more rental homes and measures to encourage private developers to build affordable rented properties.
It will also outline steps to ensure families have better access to longer-term tenancies in private rented schemes so that they have more security. Letting agents will also be banned from charging fees to tenants.
Housing Minister Gavin Barwell told ITV’s Robert Peston: “Housing has become more and more unaffordable for people that are trying to buy or to rent because governments for 30 or 40 years have not built enough homes.
“We need more people to get involved in building homes and we need all different kinds of tenure – for outright ownership, for shared ownership, for renting.
“We want councils to play their part. Lots of councils stopped building homes and we are keen to see them play their part. We want to see more housing built in this country of every kind. At the moment we are far too dependent on a small number of large developers building our homes.”
The decision to increase the rental housing supply contrasts with David Cameron’s approach to the housing crisis which aimed to get Generation Rent onto the property ladder.
Pensioners are also to be offered incentives to downsize, freeing up their homes for families.
As well as building tens of thousands of new places in specialised housing, ministers will attempt to make it easier for pensioners to move into sheltered accommodation.
Councils could also offer help with the cost of moving or decorating to ecncourage them to sell.
Barwell said: “If we can make it easier for elderly people to move into sheltered accommodation it releases family homes that we’re desperate for. It’s a really interesting idea.”
Jeremy Leaf, north London estate agent and a former RICS residential chairman, said: “One wonders why we should have more confidence than we have had in this government up until now, its predecessor under David Cameron or previous Labour governments. Where are the deliverable targets? Where is the transparency to enable us to measure it? What difference is it really going to make or is it more hot air than housing?
“For instance, take the housing targets. What is going to make a difference to the planning officer and how he does his job? Is he going to be able to do things more quickly? Is he going to make sure infrastructure is fast-tracked so he can put pressure on developers to start work faster tomorrow than they do today?
“On the downsizing, where are the specialist properties for these people to move into? There are none. It’s a great idea but why would they move if they have nowhere to move to? It needs to be thought through – big ideas must go hand-in-hand with big delivery.
“Clamping down on letting agent fees may be popular among tenants but it is likely to compromise the quality and quantity of property available because the balance of power will move to the tenant. At the moment because tenants pay for references they are very careful about giving you a name for that reference. If in the future when they are not paying and it is the agent or landlord they are likely to be more cavalier, putting in offers with several agents and not caring about the quality of the reference. References can be very poor as a general rule and we suspect this may make the situation worse.”
Dan Wilson Craw, director of Generation Rent, said: “The government has finally recognised that home ownership is too distant a prospect for too many people. The insecurity created by short term tenancies is no way to live if you’re stuck renting, especially if you’re raising children.
“Most landlords already encourage long term tenants by keeping rents reasonable, so any new incentives need to target the minority who are happy to kick out tenants in pursuit of maximum rents. We await the detail of the white paper, but it is essential that as many renters can benefit from greater security as possible. Landlords are a diverse bunch and relying on incentives rather than wholesale reform risks leaving many vulnerable tenants unprotected.”
