The Director of Mortgage Distribution at Leeds Building Society, Martese Carton, claims that government plans to scrap housing targets will result in as many 100,000 fewer homes being built per year.
The latest Levelling Up Bill being passed through Parliament has brought fresh doubts over government plans to target building 300,000 new homes each year, as 47 MPs signed an amendment to the Bill banning “top down” mandatory housing targets.
This is in response to 2022 housing figures showing new homes once again falling well short of the 300,000 target. However, Carton stated there is “no silver bullet when it comes to solving the UK’s housing crisis” but she believes that scrapping these targets will only have a detrimental affect on house building. She highlights The Home Builders Federation’s warning that scrapping targets could lead to 100,000 fewer homes each year, which she claims is “unacceptable”. She continued:
“We are facing a chronic shortage of homes resulting in soaring house prices which drive deposit requirements and mortgages ever higher. This means first-time buyers are finding it harder than ever to get on the ladder. Added to this, high interest rates are forcing up the mortgage costs for millions.”
She argued that housing targets help to “catalyse supply” as well as “providing consistency and stability”. She added:
“We need a national conversation about the reasons why we’re building homes. To make our country prosperous and grow the economy, I believe everybody should have a home that’s decent and affordable. Secure housing is more than a roof over our heads, it drives positive outcomes in health, education, and social mobility.”
Carton acknowledges that local communities are protective of their areas being disrupted, with new homes placing greater constraints on local economies and services, but states “the trade-off is between that, and millions of people being blocked from the benefits home ownership brings”. However, she agrees local people should play a central role in deciding the development of communities, as long as housing targets remain. She concluded:
“There is certainly scope to debate how national targets are developed and how we can better understand local need, but all too often we have seen that if targets are not in place, things simply do not get done.
Here at Leeds Building Society, we want to see the Government adopt a long-term strategy to solving the housing crisis. Listening to experts and aspiring homeowners to deliver the radical change the market needs would be a very good place to start.”
