The government should scrap stamp duty for older homeowners and bring in tougher taxes on second homes and private landlords to help fix the housing crisis, according to a new academic report.
In the paper, LSE emeritus professor Christine Whitehead, Sheffield University professor Tony Crook and Christ College Cambridge director of studies for land economy Kelvin MacDonald set out three “quick wins” or immediate steps the government could take to solve key issues.
The report, which is backed by Family Building Society, suggests that exempting older households from stamp duty could encourage them to move into more suitable housing and free up family homes.
The academics argue that further tax on second homes and short-term lets would bring more housing back on to the mainstream market.
They also call for private landlords to be treated as businesses to drive up the standard of rental accommodation.
Professor Whitehead says: “The Labour government’s current housing policy has put almost all the emphasis on new build.
“Yet even when their National Policy Planning Framework is fully in place it is unlikely that anything like 300,000 new homes per annum will be added to overall housing supply, at least during their first term.”
“It will take time to bring green and grey belt land into development except where there is unused infrastructure available.
“The development of new and extended towns, while a very popular policy offering significant long-term potential, is unlikely to be fully operational within the next decade.
“A particularly difficult issue is how social and affordable housing is to be funded.
“A major problem is that housing associations do not have the capacity to purchase new S106 homes and without that cash flow developers are slowing the output of both market and affordable homes, especially in London.
“While we clearly need all the new homes we can get, improving the use of the existing stock has far more immediate potential to improve housing conditions” added Professor Whitehead.
Family Building Society chief executive Mark Bogard says: “The government has put great store in housing as a key engine for the growth so very badly needed in the UK economy and to support their spending objectives.
“But we have not seen a coherent policy yet.
“It has focused on new build; and, as this report highlights, this is only 1% of what is at stake each year.
“Optimising the use of the existing stock which makes up the other 99%, matters far more.
“As this report shows there are actions that can be taken immediately to improve the situation.
“Politicians often seem to focus on legacy – what greater legacy could any politician have than laying the ground for starting to sort out the mess that housing policy has been for so long in this country.”
The report comes as a new independent housing committee chaired by ex-Liberal Democrat leader Vince Cable seeks to hold the government to account on the delivery of homes.
