Budget 2020: RICS response to housing policy

RICS urges the government to focus on long-term solutions to the long-term issues that exist in the housing sector. A short-term vision does not solve long-term problems. We strongly believe that the government must begin to demonstrate their housing policy through real-world application rather than through headlines and news rhetoric.

In today’s Budget speech, the chancellor announced significant grants to be awarded across the housing sector, with a particular focus on affordable homes and social housing. By investing billions of pounds in affordable homes and towards the Housing Infrastructure Fund, and cutting the interest rate on loans for building social housing, the government is enabling the sector to build housing for all.

However, the government must recognise that ‘affordable’ housing means different things to different people, and the government needs to approach this ambitious housing programme with common sense – in addition to the stated accompanying sector funding. RICS believes mixed-tenure developments provide the best social and commercial value for housing, as discussed in the 2016 RICS information paper Placemaking and value.

One of our significant concerns, which remains unaddressed by the government, is their determination to remove Section 21 – Evicting tenants (England and Wales) – from law without proper safeguards in place for landlords to be able to remove tenants when needed.

We highlighted to both the previous and current housing ministerial team the significant risk of progressing with this policy. It will affect the most vulnerable in the private rented sector – the people the government are supposedly amending this policy for – and could contribute to local authorities deeming people deliberately homeless.

The £650m investment for rough sleepers promised by the chancellor is a great step in addressing homelessness, but the government must also ensure they are not inadvertently adding to the homelessness issue with current housing policy direction around the removal of Section 21.

In 2015, RICS advised the government to create a new land category of ‘amberfield’, that is, brownfield land that does not require large amounts of clean up. Following the allocation of £400m million for building on brownfield sites, we again urge the government to consider creating this land category to provide developers with more clarity on available non-greenfield and greenbelt land.

As a standards and regulatory body and a key contributor to the Hackitt report, we welcomed the government’s ambition in their manifesto to adopt all the recommendations of the report. The £1bn allocated to create a new building safety fund that will be used to remove ‘all unsafe’ cladding from tall buildings is a good start. Such a scheme is long-awaited but much appreciated – and is a significant step towards ensuring that all those who live in a cladded high-rise building feel safe. RICS stresses that the government must maintain its commitment to this cause.

RICS believes the government has a responsibility to root their policies in real-world application and inform them with industry advice.

We await tomorrow’s speech on planning, which will outline reforms and will hopefully be accompanied by full funding – particularly for planning departments, as requested in the RICS budget wish-list.