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ACE has welcomed the government’s intention to make available land for up to 100,000 new houses. However, further measures may be needed to restore confidence into the market in order to ensure that homes are actually built.
Difficulty in obtaining mortgage finance at an affordable rate may limit the success of the government’s plans, as first-time buyers continue to face challenges in getting on the housing ladder. Government therefore needs to give leadership to banks to ensure that sufficient affordable mortgage finance is available.
Nelson Ogunshakin OBE, ACE chief executive, said: “The intention to support house building in this way is very welcome. However, without a coordinated set of wider measures to stimulate development, there is a risk that the £10bn and 100,000 homes may not be realised. Banks in particular need to ensure that enough affordable finance is available –there is still more to do in this regard.”
ACE recently proposed a range of measures to stimulate greater activity in the housing market. These include reforms to development consents processes, renovation of empty homes, incentives to co-locate commercial and residential developments, a general presumption in favour of releasing non-green belt land for development, and reforms to the financial services sector to encourage more first-time buyers.
Localism policies may also play a part in determining the pace and location of new housing developments. Community buy-in will be essential in order to ensure that the right developments are delivered in the right places.
Nelson Ogunshakin said: “Clarity of planning policy will be needed to give confidence to developers. Supporting transport and utilities infrastructure will also be required, as will greater access to affordable finance. Above all, this is an opportunity to create many more new homes to a high standard of sustainability, which will both boost activity in low carbon construction and help to meet the UK’s carbon reduction commitments.”
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For media queries please contact Gavin Pearson (gpearson@acenet.co.uk) (020 7202 0255)
Notes to editors
ACE, the Association for Consultancy and Engineering, is the business association representing the UK’s providers of professional consultancy services in the built and natural environment.
ACE represents approximately 600 member companies who together account for 90,000 employees in the UK. These businesses contribute more than £8 billion per year to the UK economy, and are instrumental in the development of a wide range of built and natural environment projects.
ACE promotes the critical contribution that professional consultants, working in the built and natural environment, make to the nation's developing infrastructure. ACE listens to its members, understands the issues affecting them and their clients and takes the lead in representing their interests to decision makers and opinion formers in governments, client organisations and the media.
For more information, please visit www.acenet.co.uk.
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