A view on today's white paper
The white paper includes some very encouraging proposals and we’re pleased to see the government widen out the starter homes policy to include shared ownership, which should encourage more developers to build more homes for this crucial tenure.
Shared ownership was explicitly referenced by the secretary of state as one solution to helping people realise their dream of home ownership. This kind of positive rhetoric and backing is vital to ensure it is seen as a truly mainstream tenure and route on to the housing ladder.
The commitment to support SME housebuilders is also welcome news. Partnership working, including between larger housebuilders and housing associations, and support of smaller developers are relatively under-utilised ways of boosting volumes – the most important thing given the crisis is in supply rather than on the demand side.
Amy Nettleton is assistant development director – sales and marketing at Aster Group and chair of the National Housing Group.
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