Stamp Duty Holiday
Ed Monaghan, CEO of Mactaggart & Mickel Group:
“We welcome the Chancellor’s recognition of the vital role that housebuilding and construction play in sustaining the economy. We are ready to support the government’s aim to build a better, more sustainable future. Measures like the Stamp Duty cut will be a significant boost for the housing market in England. We hope these measures will be matched in Scotland.
Stuart Law, CEO at marketplace lender, Assetz Capital:
“We welcome the changes outlined by the Chancellor – there’s no doubt this will have a positive impact on the market and help to partly make up for the larger deposits now required by buyers. As the first link in the housing chain, first-time buyers are the foundation of the whole housing market so we support any changes that benefit this group.
“We’d also advocate all of the recent buy-to-let taxes being removed for the next five years, as buy-to-let investors could potentially step in where first-time buyers can’t and support the bottom of many housing chains and prevent them failing. This means the 3% extra stamp duty on buy-to-let purchases should be removed as well and the removing the mortgage interest tax also recently introduced.
Will Scoular, Head of Private Client Lending at Investec:
“The announcement from the chancellor is good news for developers of smaller residential units as it will help persuade nervous buyers back into the market. However, we must be cautious that the removal of the support in March next year could cause transaction volumes to stall again, creating somewhat of a delay in the impact of the crisis unless permanent reform is introduced. Meanwhile, unchanged Stamp Duty rates for homes worth more than £500,000 will continue to put the brakes on transactions and reduce the overall tax take.”
Zara Banday, Partner & Head of Residential Property at Slater Heelis
“It’s great to see the market stimulated by central government through a stamp duty holiday. This move will provide a real shot in the arm for the market, which seems to have already bounced back to pre-lockdown sales levels, and really help get the economy moving again.
“We anticipate even more buyers moving into the market, but stress the importance of a trusted and experienced conveyancer in the rush to secure a new home, as the process is made easy.
“Buyers budgets will now go further allowing them to upgrade to larger properties, with more outdoor space and even an extra room for home working. The stamp duty on a home worth £500,000 can cost as much as £50,000, and this will also provide buyers with extra funds to spend on furnishing and home improvements.”
Tom Nicholson, Chief Operating Officer at Crest Nicholson:
“We welcome the Government’s announcement of a ‘stamp duty holiday’ and package of measures to support homebuyers and the housebuilding industry.
As the housebuilding industry returns from Covid-19 imposed shutdowns, it is encouraging to see the Government prioritising the current housing market, as a means of propping up the national economy. We have already seen signs of improvement, with increased site visits by homebuyers and reservation levels beginning to return to pre-Covid levels thanks to pent-up demand for new homes, but we need support to maintain this momentum and avoid a plateau.
The stamp duty break, Green Homes Grant scheme, and incentives for companies to bring back furloughed employees and get young people into the industry, will be crucial to increasing affordability for many buyers, and helping the industry and economy recover.”
Energy Efficiency
Max Halliwell, Communication Manager for Residential Heating at Mitsubishi Electric:
“The announcement from the Chancellor signals that the government has heard and understands the role that renewable heating, power and green measures will have in helping build Britain back up post the Covid-19 crisis. The measures outlined by the Chancellor go some way to addressing this. In addition to these measures, the installation of renewable heating technologies, such as heat pumps, up and down the country will not only help homeowners reduce their own carbon emissions from home heating, but provide valuable jobs creation as plumbers, installers, manufacturers and apprentices upskill and reskill in a technology that is going to be vital for future homes. Considering the aspirational targets that have been discussed by the Committee for Climate Change to have a million heat pumps installed by 2030, the UK heat pump market could play a considerable part in the country’s economic recovery.”
Oliver Baker, CEO at Ambion Heating:
“The focus on making the UK’s ‘leaky’ homes more energy efficient with the announcement of a £2bn Green Homes Grant is one that is very welcome. Decarbonising domestic heat is one of the biggest challenges we face if the UK wants to hit its target of net zero carbon emissions by 2050.We will await to see the details on whether all or just some low-carbon technologies are included. In the government’s proposed Clean Heat Grant Scheme, computer-controlled infrared heating is not currently eligible, despite its energy usage and emissions being at a comparable level with air source heat pumps. It also has the added benefit of 40% lower installation costs.
“So, the government needs to ensure that any grant scheme designed to improve energy efficiency should embrace innovative technologies that can provide for a cleaner, greener future.”
Victoria Hills, Chief Executive, RTPI:
“The Royal Town Planning Institute welcomes the intention of government in Chancellor Sunak’s announcements to deliver a green recovery. All these separate investments in the built environment will need planning to ensure that they are joined up to reap maximum benefit for the recovery of our towns, local economies and the delivery of housing and climate change targets.
“The £2bn Green Homes Grant and £1bn Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme, will provide much needed support to improve the energy efficiency of existing homes and public buildings, and measures like this are long overdue. But much more will be needed to meet the scale of the challenge. A proper national retrofit strategy must include measures which support the private rental sector, create a stronger regulatory framework, and provide powers and resources to local authorities.”
Theresa McLean, Area Director for TN International UK & Ireland:
“We welcome the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s proposal for grants to households to fund improvements including installing insulation, but as the climate is a shared endeavour for all of us, we’d like to see it rolled out across the UK and include non-domestic buildings.
“Fully insulating a home is the most efficient way to reduce its carbon footprint. Not only does it prevent energy leakage, it allows other green technology like solar panels, biomass boilers and heat pumps to run more efficiently, and maximises their potential benefits.”
“The Government’s Green Homes Grant is a great start, but if we realistically want to meet the UK’s net-zero target by 2050, it can only be the first step on a long and carefully considered investment road.”
Help to Buy
Frank Pennal, CEO of Close Brothers Property Finance Division:
“It is disappointing that the Government has missed the opportunity to support both buyers and the housebuilding industry by extending the Help to Buy scheme in its present form – a lifeline for this market, which represents around 40% of new homes sales. The new Help to Buy initiative, with regional caps, has been criticised for being unworkable from a buyer perspective and also removes any financial support for second steppers, who account for 20% of the current Help to Buy sales.
James Thomson, CEO of Gleeson Homes:
“Stamp duty relief is just one avenue to increase home ownership during a tougher economic environment for buyers. The announcement falls short of addressing the concerns of thousands of aspiring home owners, who are due to lose out on their Help to Buy homes because of Coronavirus related setbacks to construction, and the impending deadline on the policy.
Training
Greg Hill, Deputy CEO of the Hill Group:
“It is great to see the Government investing in and protecting the prospects of an entire generation, as well as prioritising the construction and housebuilding sectors, which provides a breadth of long term employment opportunities for young people. Not only does the housebuilding industry directly employ 750,000 people, but the ripple effect from the sector facilities even more jobs through the supply chain and sales process.
