Chancellor accused of not the first time buyers £ 600m turna

 

Friday, Apr 24,2009, 10:29:35 AM   Click:

The chancellor was accused of "using a water pistol to put out a fire" after the announcement of measures to revive the housing market and construction sector.

Housing organizations, lenders and real estate agents said that Alistair Darling £ 600 million package, including an extension until the end of this year's stamp duty tax on properties worth less vacation £ 175,000 does not go far enough to help those who are excluded from home ownership.

Mr. Darling Among other proposals is an injection of £ 400 million for housebuilders to enable them to resume work on the evolution of the impasse. Manufacturers have deserted construction sites in recent months as their source of financing - bank loans - has dried up. The government said it would close the gap by effectively buying shares in construction companies for a return on its investments at a later date, taking a stake in the fortunes of the housing market.

The impetus is partly in cash of £ 1 billion announced this week to improve housing supply. The government's own figures, however, that the funding announced yesterday provide only 10,000 new housing units, a fraction of its 240,000-a-year target.

The Chancellor announced a paltry 100 million pounds to enable councils to build 900 homes on the City Hall land for social renting, with a new £ 80 million in funding to a government supported by its own funds for to help first time buyers who do not have large deposits, and an additional 50 million pounds to help renovate housing for the armed forces.

Accommodation for groups yesterday condemned the Government failed to provide funds for a social housing program. They insisted on at least 6 billion pounds sterling to build 100,000 low cost housing in the next two years to help curb the rise in council waiting lists for houses. Over 4.5 million people are on waiting lists for council houses, a figure that should rise to five million by the end of this year, while other houses are included.

The National Housing Federation said that the Chancellor has taken a step in the right direction, but did not go far enough. David Orr, chief executive, said: "We now fear that because the government failed to reverse a housing program, the number of units shipped this year to a financial crisis 88-bottom of the 70,000 years - while the number of social housing waiting lists simply climb to unprecedented levels. "

Moves to encourage the private housing market have also been met with derision. Peter Bolton King, chief executive of the National Association of Realtors, said: "The housing market is driving the UK economy and it is likely that this budget has been largely ineffective. There is little here to the first time buyers, who need encouragement to climb on the scale of the property, which will be moving. Mr Darling used a water pistol to try to extinguish a fire. "

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors said that the stamp duty holiday could harm the lower end of the housing market where the tax is reintroduced at the beginning of next year. The donors said that the move would benefit disproportionately from homes outside London and south-east, where most homes cost more than £ 175,000.

Fionnuala Earley, chief economist at Nationwide, said: "The level of the threshold will be mainly those of the North. House purchasers of goods over £ 175,000 will still face the full burden of stamp duty."

The additional £ 80 million in equity HomeBuy Direct scheme in 3500 that first-time buyers in total, according to estimates by Jon Neale, Knight Frank, the estate agent. He said: "When you consider that even in this market of 10,000 first-time buyers able to buy in February, you realize how this small amount really is."

About 45,500 buyers - 60 percent of all home sales - have benefited from stamp duty relief since last September. Government revenue from stamp duty has risen from £ 14 billion in 2007-08 to £ 8.2 billion in 2008-09.