There has been a lot of debate over the Help To Buy scheme of late and the scheme was supposed to conclude in April of 2021. However, it was announced that the scheme has been extended for two additional years. This extension is set to be only available for first-time buyers. This comes on the back of criticism that the scheme has provided more assistance to people already on the property ladder than people looking to find their way on to the scheme.
Kevin Roberts is the Director of the Mortgage Club at Legal & General and he spoke about the changes to the Help To Buy scheme, saying “housebuilders now have more certainty for longer-term planning and building the thousands of new homes our country so desperately needs".
Could helping the High Street boost the property market?
With respect to the need to place more homes into the market, the campaign to boost the High Streets of the UK may impact on the property market. There is no denying that High Streets across the country are struggling as consumers benefit from online shopping and out-of-town shopping centres. This has left many areas looking like a shadow of their former selves with criticism regarding the state of shops operating in these areas, so there is a need for change.
A total of £1.5bn has been set aside to assist these struggling areas of the economy and the Chancellor stated that there would be the creation of a £675m fund to aid councils looking to change their retail zones. It has been hoped that some of this money could be used to convert empty stores or commercial buildings into flats or homes.
There is hope that many new homes can be added to the property market
The Federation of Master Builders believes this is a positive move and that it could lead to as many as 400,000 new homes bring introduced by using the space above shops and stores.
This is a move that has been welcomed by some but there have been objections raised by the opposition, saying that this sort of move would be of benefit to rogue landlords looking to offer substandard quality housing.
There is no denying that a lot of work has been to clamp down on rogue landlords of late, but whether this will exacerbate that problem as opposed to assisting with the housing problem is another matter.
With the changing face of Stockport showing many improvements, there has been considerable work to improve the High Streets, so this may not impact on the local market too much. However, it does reinforce the need to improve the principal areas of towns and cities.
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