Government housing plans 'must deliver in London'

Government housing building plans must deliver in London in order to be considered a success, according to capital's councils.

Earlier this week the Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG) outlined new measures to assist first-time buyers onto the housing ladder.

Under the plans all first-time buyers with a household income of £60,000 a year or less will have the opportunity to apply to buy a share of a property, under a major expansion of the Homebuy programme.

Currently, the scheme is open only to key workers like nurses and teaches, social tenants, and some buyers identified as a priority regionally.

"Most families aspire to get onto the housing ladder, but are being priced out of the market," explained housing minister Caroline Flint.

"We want to give them the support to help them buy an affordable home. The long-term solution to the challenge of affordability is to build more homes.

"But in the meantime, we are doing more by giving more first-time buyers the chance to boost their purchasing power and put their dream home within reach."

The government has outlined planned two build two million new homes nationally by 2016, with a further one million, carbon neutral, homes by 2020.

However, the impact must be felt in the capital in order to be a success, argues London Councils' executive member for housing, Jamie Carswell.

"We are pleased that the government is responding to one of the challenges that London Councils set out in its housing vision by trying to help more low and middle income families to enter the property market," said Mr Carswell.

"But London's high cost of living means that the capital - where average house prices are 13 times the median income - needs a targeted approach to this issue if it is to be successful."

The average house price in the capital is over £360,000, or 13 times the median income.

"Our vision for the future of London's housing sets out how to make housing work for Londoners - from developing a rent free 50-50 shared ownership scheme to tackling the financial burden of stamp duty," continued Mr Carswell.

"We hope the government will work with us to deliver these ambitions - and continue its commitment to maintaining the current funding and level of new housing supply in London. Together we can deliver the homes Londoners need."

The government has also outlined plans for a new initiative to enable the Housing Corporation to allocate up to £200 million of its resources to buy new properties on the open market, either to be made available for first-time buyers to purchase through the HomeBuy scheme or for social rent.

Chris O'Toole