24.06.13
Greater ambition for housing supply – Rics
The Government’s housing policy is too short-termist, a report from the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) has warned.
Successive governments have failed to produce a coherent long-term strategy for housing, and there must be further action to increase the supply of properties, it stated. The target of 100,000 new homes should be doubled and builders should start work within three years of acquiring planning permission, Rics recommends.
An independent committee could be created to advise on housing supply, and a new body to bring together private sector and academic research. The sector also needs greater coordination between Westminster and the devolved institutions for housing policy.
“Governments must increase the scale of their ambitions to match the scale of the challenges,” the report stated. Ministers “must carefully review the introduction of their welfare reform measures and... be vigilant that the unintended consequences do not outweigh any benefits,” it adds.
Housing minister Mark Prisk said the government was "fixing all areas of the dysfunctional housing market it inherited”.
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