Hammond’s hidden homes delivery delay

Chancellor Philip Hammond’s £8bn of funding to build 155,000 homes, announced in the Autumn Statement, will see just 17,300 homes funded next year and 28,800 the year after. Much of the funding will not kick in until 2020-21 and the numbers outlined are only for enabling, rather than actual delivery, to which there are further obstacles, such as planning. CBRE head of research Miles Gibson said there were other delaying factors to be considered. “The devolved administrations might elect to spend their share on something different. So we won’t see the impact for some time,” he said. Hammond announced a new £23bn national productivity investment fund for spending on innovation and infrastructure, of which £8bn was allocated to housing through the £2.3bn housing infrastructure fund, £1.4bn affordable housing fund and £1.7bn previously-announced Accelerated Construction Scheme. Cain Hoy chief executive Jonathan Goldstein said: “It is often the planning process that is the biggest frustration to the growth of housing, and the government needs to focus on that as well as pumping money in.” A housing white paper revealing changes to planning policy was expected to be released around the same time as the Autumn Statement. However, government sources have said it is likely to be released closer to Christmas or possibly January. Worth a mention? At 69 pages, this year’s Autumn Statement was half the length of 2015’s, but did that mean the chancellor omitted the key phrases of the day? Investment: 91 times (2015: 202) Productivity: 49 times (2015: 22) Infrastructure: 47 times (2015: 50) Housing: 42 times (2015: 91) Innovation: 14 times (2015: 43) Powerhouse: 5 times (2015: 20) Construction: 7 times (2015: 13) Rent: 5 times (2015: 6) Referendum: 9 times (2015: 6) Affordable: 8 times (2015: 9) Inequality: 0 times (2015: 1) CBRE Research: housing inputs implied by Autumn Statement 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21 Totals Homes Accelerated Construction Scheme 2,200 4,800 5,100 2,900 15,000 Affordable housing 12,900 13,000 10,200 3,900 40,000 Housing Infrastructure Fund 2,200 11,000 34,600 52,200 100,000 CBRE Research: cash inputs implied by Autumn Statement 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21 Totals £m Accelerated Construction Scheme 285 635 665 380 1,965 Affordable housing 1,120 1,125 880 340 3,465 Housing Infrastructure Fund 60 300 945 1,425 2,730 Figures show housing enabled, not housing delivered. Homes figures are England only. Cash figures are for whole of UK so homes figures assume pace of English spending matches pace of UK spending. Affordable housing outputs assume £1.4bn spent at same pace as pre-existing £2bn HCA programme. Commercial prices Following the Autumn Statement, the Office for Budget Responsibility forecast commercial property prices will fall, instead of rise in 2016-17 and 2017-18.   BPF wishlist – what the property industry did and didn’t get Reversal of 3% stamp duty land tax surcharge  No Rethink of public procurement rules for land post-OJEU  No Reversal of BEPS  No Reforms to business rates appeals system  No Modular construction tax relief  No Flexible space standards for build-to-rent  No Infrastructure investment  Yes Pro build-to-rent policy  Yes • To send feedback, e-mail alex.peace@estatesgazette.com or tweet @egalexpeace or @estatesgazette • To send feedback, e-mail Louisa.Clarence-Smith@estatesgazette.com or tweet @LouisaClarence or @estatesgazette