Published: 08/02/2017 By J Graham
We welcomed Channel 5 News to the Dwell Leeds office yesterday, 7th February. They got in touch with us to get our input on the government’s long-awaited white paper on housing, that was released on the 7th February.
Channel 5 correspondent, Peter Lane, interviewed our Moving Maestro, Dan Finder. They discussed the current plight of First Time Buyers. Dan has a unique insight on this being both an Estate Agent, and a First Time Buyer.
A section of this interview was broadcast on the national news on the 7th February. Did you manage to catch it? If not here it is on You Tube. A snippet of Dan’s interview is right at the start of the clip.
The paper aims to tackle the housing crisis and raised 29 action points for the government to get back on track towards meeting demand for homes in the UK. Amongst these included:
- A provision for longer tenancies
- Backing for institutional investment for Build To Rent schemes
- A Starter Homes initiative to tackle “unfair leasehold terms for homebuyers”
- A simplified plan making the process for developers
- Making more land available for development, except in the green belt which will continue to be heavily protected
- Improved resources for planning departments to speed up the planning process
- Backing for small and medium sized developers under a Building Fund
- Support for Housing Associations and local authorities to build more homes
- Plans to bring empty homes back into usage
There has been early criticism for the report, with some branding it “too little too late” and not far reaching enough to meet pent up demand and the government’s own targets for much needed housing.
What are your thoughts? Get in touch and let us know.