SiteSales Group works to deliver a range of services to developers, housing associations, local authorities and many more clients in and around London. Murray Smith, the Managing Director of the Group has s expressed his concern over the plans that Mayor Sadiq Khan has issued for the capital city.
There has been an emphasis placed on the delivery of more new homes, although Murray is unsure whether that is the solution needed to get more people on the housing market. Per capita in the city, there are enough houses for everyone, however the houses that are available are unaffordable for first time buyers. A solution for this issue is to focus any new housing primarily for the first time buyer’s market. Also, as not everyone can afford to live in popular areas such as Chelsea, compromises need to be made, and when looking for a house, that could mean the location of a property.
Murray has said that it is great news that plans have been made to change housing policies in order to highlight fire safety following this year’s Grenfell Tower Fire tragedy. However, these fire safety changes are expected to end up in viability assessments, and this means that there could be negative effects on the supply of affordable housing.
Murray Smith Agrees that there needs to be a certain allocation of affordable housing available in London. However, the Managing Director of SiteSales suggests that these allocations should not be taken up by couples, who have a large combined income and deposit and simply need to migrate to an area of the city that they can afford. Also on the other side of the spectrum is that more affordable family-sized accommodation is needed, so service sector employees can live work and school their children in one area and save on expensive commutes.
Another solution that has been put forward in that Help to Buy should be available across the market, not just in new homes, to prevent people abandoning the second-hand market, helping to get the market moving and stabilizing prices.
