Here we are, then. Sitting back at our desks, looking at the same screens we were looking at in 2016. It’s 2017 now and for all the ‘new year’ emails flying around not much has changed at all.
If the housing crisis was one of the biggest issues of 2016 it will remain so this year. A new calendar year has begun but problems don’t magically disappear, you can’t meditate or Nutribullet the housing crisis out of existence.
Towards the end of last year, it seemed like the government were starting to wake up to the scale of the problem. If anything good had come of the post-Brexit ministerial shake up it was that the new Housing Minister, Gavin Barwell, was (unlike his predecessors) at least acknowledging what had, up until that point, been the giant cul-de-sac shaped tower block of an elephant in the room.
Today he has used the first working day of the new year to announce another gesture which acknowledges just how much the young are being disproportionately screwed by the gargantuan housing problem we’ve inherited from the policy makers of our parents and grandparents' generations.
Thousands of so-called ‘starter homes’ will be built this year with first time buyers in mind. In multiple areas across England £1.2bn will be made available from the ‘Starter Homes Land Fund’ which will help pay for new developments on brownfield sites.
In order to qualify for one of these homes you will have to be between 23 and 40. The homes will also be discounted, selling for 20% less than their market value. These homes will be built in 30 local areas, including Blackpool, Bristol, Sheffield and Luton and are expected to be ready next year.
In a statement the Housing Minister said that this announcementdemonstrates the Government’s commitment to ‘building starter homes to help young first time buyers get on the housing ladder.’
Sounds good, right? Pleased as we are that action is being taken to help young people get themselves on the housing ladder and into a secure home that they can call their own, we do wonder how much help this will be. If it has historically been so difficult to build enough homes to supply this country’s demand, will the Government be able to ensure this is delivered by next year? Given that these 'starter homes' will cost up to £450,000 in London and £250,000 elsewhere, will these new homes really be affordable to people in their 20s and 30s earning average incomes, or less? Is this any more than another shoddy sticking plaster for a completely broken housing market?
Indeed, we're not the only ones asking questions. Shelter told The Debrief that while they welcome effort to 'build more homes' they feel that 'these starter homes are only likely to benefit people who are better off and already close to buying' while doing little for 'the many millions of people on middle and low incomes who need somewhere genuinely affordable to buy or rent long term.'
If the Housing Minister’s new year’s resolution is to tackle the housing crisis that can only be a good thing. Will he succeed beyond January? Only time will tell.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.