The industry has given a distinctly luke-warm response to Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ Spring Statement – especially those announcements related to housing. 

First off the mark was Savills’ head of research Lucian Cook, querying Reeves’ statement that the Office for Budget Responsibility anticipated that 1.3m new homes would be built across the UK by the end of 2029. Reeves said this was “in touching distance” of Labour’s manifesto commitment for 1.5m homes.

Cook took to social media platform X to say: ”OBR suggesting the delivery of 1.3m new homes over the next five years on the basis of 305k per annum at the end of the forecast period. But that assumes annual housing transactions get back up to 1.48m pa: a long way above the post GFC norm of 1.2m….. And the 1.3m appears to be a UK figure; the 1.5m target is for England alone.  Planning reform alone is not enough.”

Meanwhile William Reeve – chief executive of Goodlord and who last May signed a letter with 99 other business leaders saying it’s time for a change of government from Tory to Labour – issued a statement saying: “The private rental sector is creaking under intense pressure. A lot of this is attributable to supply and demand; there simply aren’t enough homes to go around. Today’s announcement that £2 billion will be directed towards social house building is welcome, but the planned 18,000 homes barely touches the sides of what’s needed. 

“We’re going too slowly to hit the government’s target of 1.5m new homes this parliament, which in itself won’t be enough to close the UK’s housing gap. And we are falling behind our neighbours – the numbers are stark when you compare our housing stock with countries like France. This is being compounded by anti-market reforms. Despite the government’s narrative about promoting growth and stripping away red tape, where housing is concerned it is doing the opposite. It is inhibiting the market from finding solutions that would reduce the amount of money the Government needs to pour into the sector. 

“For example, we should scrap provisions in the Renter’s Rights Bill that will suffocate market dynamics, such as bans on ‘over-bidding’ and abolishing fixed term student tenancies. Both reforms are anti-market and will actually make things harder for tenants, not easier. Likewise, we should remove the artificial barriers between the social and private sectors, introducing more fluid, means-tested pathways between the two sectors and targeting support more effectively. And we should be pushing even harder to drive through planning reform and make investing in property a more attractive option.”

Rightmove’s property expert Colleen Babcock sees it this way: “It’s extremely disappointing that the government have not used the Spring Statement as an opportunity to extend the impending Stamp Duty deadline for those currently going through the home-moving process. We estimate over 70,000 buyers are going to miss the deadline and complete in April instead, and a third of those are first-time buyers.

“Given the current challenges faced by first-time buyers, our data shows that a typical first-time buyer in Britain now faces average monthly mortgage payments of £940, a 59% increase compared with £590 per month five years ago. Over that same period rents have increased by 40% across Great Britain. So, while we welcome the government’s focus and investment to help build more affordable homes, we’re keen to hear more about how this, or other incentives, can help more first-time buyers.” 

And Richard Donnell, executive director at Zoopla, comments: “The housing market needs a strong and growing economy to support housing supply. It’s promising to see the Government focusing on longer-term impact by boosting funding for new homes and avoiding short-term measures like stamp duty holidays that don’t really help with the fundamental challenges in the housing market. 

“The top priority should be an easing of mortgage regulations, which will support first-time buyers, an important buyer group for homebuilders and the broader market. 

“This would also help the rental sector, where there are still 12 people chasing every home for rent, with those on low incomes bearing the brunt. Increased funding for social housing is essential in the upcoming Spending Review to help support housing delivery and boost the stock of social rented homes, which has been static for 30 years.”