Responding to the details unveiled today by Housing Minister Yvette Cooper and Treasury Minister John Healey regarding the establishment of a Shared Equity Taskforce, Stewart Baseley, Executive Chairman of the Home Builders Federation, says:
“The HBF welcomes the establishment of this Taskforce. There is no doubt that the current housing crisis is creating unprecedented challenges for large sections of society to own their own home, and this marks an innovative attempt to address specific affordability problems.
“The industry is already undertaking a range of measures to help people onto the housing ladder and looks forward to working with the Taskforce to identify the longer term potential for shared equity products.
“However, developing shared equity solutions is not a substitute to significantly increasing the rate of house building. If housing output remains at the 2005 level, there will be a shortfall of 50,000 homes every year. The only way of tackling long-term affordability is to increase supply, and this means reforming the planning system to make it more efficient, predictable and responsive to the market.”
Notes for Editors
1) The Home Builders Federation (HBF) is the principal trade federation for private sector home builders and voice of the home building industry in England and Wales. The HBF’s 300 member firms account for over 80% of all new homes built in England and Wales in any one year, and include companies of all sizes, ranging from multi-national, household names through regionally based businesses to small local companies: www.hbf.co.uk
2) The taskforce will be assisted by an expert advisory panel. Membership of the panel will include representatives from the finance industry, house builders, local authorities and housing associations.
3) New taskforce bids to bring home ownership within reach of more people, ODPM News Release 2006/0064, 28 March 2006: http://www.odpm.gov.uk/index.asp?id=1002882&PressNoticeID=2119
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