Thu 5 Jun 2008
Rental sector provides affordable housing
The recent publication of the ‘Can’t Buy, Can’t Supply’ report has shown that rental housing is currently the only affordable sector of the market.“The private rented sector is the affordable housing market, as it delivers important flexibility,” said Richard Donnell (pictured), director of research at Hometrack.
However, he continued on to say that more investment would be needed to meet demand, as in some areas rents had risen by 20% already.
The report’s author, Professor Steve Wilcox, said that the cost of renting was between 30 and 40% cheaper than a mortgage, but he added that government guidance on first-time buyer statistics was “flawed”, because it did not take into account the breakdown of what kinds of people are buying homes.
Donnell concurred, saying that “first-time buyers make up just 12%” of the market. He added that “press coverage was totally disproportionate to what’s happening on the ground”.
The report warns that affordable housing will drop significantly, as it is directly linked to private development.
Recent figures show 67% of affordable housing is provided through private development levies. But with major housebuilders not building new stock, the government will need to find new ways to deliver these homes.
Ian Fletcher, director for residential policy at the British Property Federation, said: “Unrealistic demands on housing developments which the public need achieve nothing. Affordability is determined by a person’s income, not by property type. There are many providers of professional rented accommodation who could benefit from the definition of ‘affordable housing’ being widened, and there are thousands looking for rental homes who would benefit as a result.”
Posted by Marc Da-Silva
in Home Builders Federation (HBF), Hometrack, News, Professor Steve Wilcox, Richard Donnell on Thu 5 Jun 2008
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