Expect more queues round the block without decisive action on affordable housing, says KPMG
JanCrosby, head of housing atKPMG, comments on the news from Halifax that the average house price has increased by 9.7% to205,000, and that on the same day, aspiring buyers in West London camped out overnight to put down deposits on studio flats due for completion in 2017:
“The ever escalating cost of owning a home in the UK, especially in London, shows the desperate need for a greatly increased supply of truly affordable homes. While recent Government announcements on Starter Homes will provide some aspiring home owners with a chance to buy, the truth is that many of those homes would have been built anyway, perhaps for rental instead, and so the overall increase in the supply of new homes from the scheme will really be a drop in the ocean.
“While moves to relax planning on brownfield sites and to push councils to put housing plans in place will help, we are still lacking the decisive and large scale action needed. We can only hope that the upcoming Autumn Statement and Comprehensive Spending Review bring with them tangible change in the housing sector, otherwise we could start to see queues around the block becoming the norm.”
KPMG published research earlier this year which showed that a first time buyer needs to earn just under £77,000 in London and £41,000 UK-wide to afford to buy a home.
