THE HOUSING GREEN PAPER
The Housing green paper (external link) revealed a number of steps facilitating the government’s target of building three million new homes before 2020. Investment of £8 billion is proposed as part of the 2008-2011 comprehensive spending review and represents £3 billion more than present spending. The annual house building target has been increased to 240,000 homes per year by 2016, and it is planned that at least 70,000 of these shall be affordable homes.

The target of 70,000 affordable homes built per year adopted is consistent with the figure which the National Housing Federation had campaigned for. However, their initial response to the green paper expressed concern at the funding level proposed. Chief executive David Orr insisted their modelling had shown that £11.6 billion would be required to deliver 70,000 homes a year and that the government must increase funding to this level.

“Attempting to meet the targets with this flawed financial modelling could bankrupt the housing association sector within five years and lead to the same mistakes made in the 1960s and 1970s” he warned. DCLG has made subsequent clarifications about the staged nature of the increase to 70,000 with intermediate rises of 10,000 per year. The NHF has welcomed further discussions (external link) on how to address the shortfall.

Further help for first-time buyers was also announced with an expansion of open market HomeBuy (external link) products to offer a 17.5% Government equity loan which can be used as a deposit with any mortgage provider. Eligibility is as for New Build HomeBuy and for the Open Market HomeBuy product with lenders - i.e. social tenants, key workers and other priority groups as indicated by Regional Housing Boards.  HomeBuy Agents advise applicants on whether they are eligible.

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