Stakeholders in the property industry were left in the dark about the Government’s housing strategy, published this week.
It meant that the NAEA, in common with other organisations, was caught off-guard, having to read through the entire document – eventually released at around 11am on Monday – before being able to release a comment.
Some of the comments, including that of the NAEA itself, welcomed the mortgage indemnity scheme but did not refer to the fact that this was only available on new-builds. EAT was so puzzled by the omission that we did not use the NAEA comment when it was first released.
Peter Bolton King, chief executive of the NAEA, now says: “We did not know it was going to be limited to new-builds. We were not consulted.
“We had been talking to the Government earlier about helping first-time buyers via a mortgage indemnity scheme across the whole market, so we were consulted then but not on the final outcome.
“Whilst I welcome help for the new-homes industry and am not going to knock it, the number of first-time buyers who will be assisted amounts to a pebble in a pond. We will certainly be continuing to talk to the Government about extending the scheme across the entire sector.
“It is a shame that the stakeholders were not given a heads-up on what was going to be in the strategy document, as that would have enabled us to have given a more thoughtful response.”
He added that he was also disappointed that the housing strategy did not address the problem of rogue letting agents and landlords.
He said: “The problem is staring us in the face. The need for licensing is seen by everyone except the Government.”
For more detail and industry reaction, see the next story.
Comments
"I have many friends who are plasterers brickies and electricians none of them are struggling for work none of them rely on work from the big house builders who on the most part employ cheap labour."
If you call a grand a week for slapping mortar between bricks 'cheap labour', then I will concede that point.
To many, that is a wage only to aspire to - and in that "many" I would include a Hell of a lot of Estate Agents...
Slappy you used to be happy, what happened?
Peebee I have many friends who are plasterers brickies and electricians none of them are struggling for work none of them rely on work from the big house builders who on the most part employ cheap labour. This is not a policy designed to help anyone except those that contribute to the conservative party coffers
I am, as always, baffled. People have said that house building 'is about all we have left'.
How come the UK is the world's 7th biggest manufacturing economy?
The current government seems little different to the last lot. The message seems to be 'let's get people borrowing again - at all costs'. Slash interest rates to make it pointless saving and use taxpayers' money to underwrite more borrowing. Pure genius.
This current obsession with debt is truly disgusting. The money being borrowed now, today, each and every day, to pay for our public services will still be being paid back in a hundred years. I wonder how people will feel in 2050 paying tax so that we could have our NHS and police and teachers today.
A father in the year 2060 is asked by his son why he can't have a new bike for Christmas. The father explains 'because we all have to pay so much tax to pay back all the money my grandparents borrowed. You can't have a bike today, son, because I am paying tax to pay for my grandfather's hip operation in 2015.
Meanwhile, you seem to want the government to underwrite everyone's borrowing for houses. It's shameful. Borrowing money for infrastructure that benefits the whole of society - and paying it back over 20 years - is one thing. Borrowing 150 thousand, million pounds each year to pay for our nurses and teachers is quite another.
Currently we are borrowing approximately the entire wage bill of the public sector each year.
This whole mortgage indemnity malarkey for new build is utterly pointless, and indeed irresponsible. I'm glad it's not being extended to other FTBs as it only encourages the sort of stupid lending to borderling borrowers that brought the market down in the first place.
On top of that, how on earth are we to help previous FTBs trade up if potential buyers only need half the deposit to buy new build over existing properties? Utterly stupid and self-defeating, the only up-side is how small the scheme is, so the damage will be limited.
Although completely unconnected to 'keeping the market going' he is right however about landlord registration but that won't happen until Grant Shapps - who canned this idea as his first act in the housing job - either gets the boot or (as is more likely - the reward for compliant idiocy - gets a promotion).
Not least as it would help enormously with HMRC's crack down on tax evasion by landlords, which is rife as we pretty much all know. Joined up Goverment? I don't think so.
This article makes it all a lot clearer :-
http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/society/housing-market-is-pretty-much-all-we-have-left%2c-admits-cameron-201111214570/
Ray: Hello right back at ya! ;o)
I'm now confused... are we arguing about agreeing with each other here? :o)
In fairness, I really meant to add 'et al' when I typed your name, as the thrust of my point was aimed at others who have bemoaned the situation.
For those that missed it, I reiterate. The building industry - pretty much the ONLY industry we have left - is a massive, fundamental, part of the nation's productivity. As I have said, not only directly but also with associated businesses. Hell - even FLORISTS make money out of it!
You know that I support Estate Agents. I see why there is a lot of dislike for this incentive/scheme/whatever people want to call it (opens the floodgates for 'con' - as the HPCers will scream it anyways...), but as I have said the wider picture is that more people will be in employment; with more money to spend than they have currently. SOME of that money will be spent on buying property, no doubt.
And I have always tended to find that the vast majority of the building industry workforce do not live in the results of their own handiwork...
Where I DO think there has been a let-down, is that the EA industry does not seem to have had anywhere near as strong a representation as the housebuilders have with the Government, who certainly haven't come up with this scheme themselves. It has been as a result of countless debates and proposals which the housebuilders have tabled, no doubt. AND, don't forget that the builders are stumping up some of the monies themselves (of course, the hardened cynics will have it said that it is simply paid for by the immoral profits they make from selling the homes in the first place....).
@PeeBee
Hello again!
I take your point as it supports my own.
However, I meant the government should be concentrating on enacting energetic policies to get the country WORKING & PRODUCING generally - not just for house building - because in my view that is what is mainly wrong with this country, as it is with many others.
Ray: "Time to stop looking at 'sticking plaster' so-called solutions and for the government to concentrate fully on the major problem - getting the country WORKING & PRODUCING - enabling people to spend and for taxes to be collected."
Getting the building industry "WORKING AND PRODUCING" is probably the most effective solution we could hope for in these times. It is said that over 30% of the working population is either in - or in some way, shape or form dependent on - the building industry.
New builds = jobs for thousands of brickies, joiners, plasterers, roofers, sparkies and plumbers to name but a few trades. These people will have disposable income; will be able to buy homes (or at least pay for the ones they already own...). DIY stores will have more trade; as will flooring and furnishing suppliers... the list goes on.
The incentive is designed to assist up to 16000 sales. That is roughly the entire annual turnover of two of the larger homebuilders; roughly 450 sites' worth of annual completions.
More income taxes will be collected; more stamp duty entering the coffers (ESPECIALLY if the government got wise and put a standard 1% levy across the board...); and more council tax to be had.
I appreciate that it doesn't actually appear to 'help' Agents today (that being said - bow many have tie-ins with builders and will earn referral fees, mortgage business as a result...) - but the long-term gains (and yes, I am painfully aware that no-one cares about tomorrow, today...), and those which don't necessarily slap you on the face, are there to be seen.
THAT, of course, is if you care to look for them - which no-one seems willing to do in this instance.
Lights blue touchpaper...stands well back... ;o)
Peter Bolton King.....
“The problem is staring us in the face. The need for licensing is seen by everyone except the Government.”
What difference will that make to the current serious problem - getting the market moving? Nothing!
Time to stop looking at 'sticking plaster' so-called solutions and for the government to concentrate fully on the major problem - getting the country WORKING & PRODUCING - enabling people to spend and for taxes to be collected..
......“We did not know it was going to be limited to new-builds. We were not consulted.......
How is it that I, as an individual, knew some time ago!
Give me strengh!
Must have read it with their eyes shut.
Typical of this government or should I say this bunch of T's treat the public like mushrooms - keep em in the dark and feed em on bulls**t.
So what? Who cares that we have to wait a few hours four NAEA's pointless, self-interested comment?
Another shining example of why agents should join the NAEA.
Time for the NAEA to pack in.
Also time for an investigation of this corrupt scheme that will not help the general population to move house.
Chains will not be built off the back of this initiative. Selling empty new homes will get the numbers up at the bottom end, but not help growing families or retiring people move on.
Not for several years to come at least.