Describing themselves as “the party of home ownership” the Conservatives committed to extending the Right to Buy to housing association tenants in their pre-election manifesto.
Industry and professional bodies including the CIOB, RIBA and ICE have responded to this and other housing and infrastructure policies in the manifesto, launched earlier this week (14 April).
Reacting to the Right to Buy extension, Eddie Tuttle, public affairs and policy manager at the CIOB, said: “While it is welcome to see the Conservative manifesto focus heavily on tackling the housing crisis, the extension of Right to Buy to housing association tenants appears to be a tepid demand-side policy, when the real issue lies with supply.
“At a time when we are building barely half the homes that the country needs, evidence from the existing Right to Buy programme does not suggest that one house sold will result in another built. Moreover, housing associations’ business plans, alongside their private lenders’ confidence, could be seriously threatened,” he continued.
To fund the replacement of properties sold under the extended Right to Buy the party wants local authorities to manage their housing assets more efficiently, and will make them sell the most expensive properties as they fall vacant.
The Conservatives also pledged to build more affordable homes, including 200,000 Starter Homes, which will be sold at a 20% discount, and will be built exclusively for first-time buyers under the age of 40.
It will also extend Help to Buy to cover another 120,000 homes – a pledge that was welcomed by the Federation of Master Builders.
“There is a lot to welcome in the Conservative manifesto, above all its determined focus on improving access to the market for first-time buyers.”
Brian Berry, FMB
Brian Berry, chief executive of the FMB, said: “There is a lot to welcome in the Conservative manifesto, above all its determined focus on improving access to the market for first-time buyers. The Help to Buy Equity Loan scheme has been hugely successful in this regard and the Help to Buy ISA and Starter Homes schemes should continue to improve options and affordability for younger first time buyers.”
This sentiment was echoed by the CIOB’s Tuttle: “Affordability for first-time buyers is vital, so policies such as the Starter Homes scheme are very welcome. On developments such as these, we would encourage investment to be tied to training and job creation, while incentivising the use of modern methods of construction to stimulate innovation.”
RIBA president Stephen Hodder was keen to make sure quality in new housing was maintained. “It is vital that the pressure to tackle the housing crisis doesn’t lead to sub-standard homes,” he said. “The RIBA supports the principle of more low-cost homes on brownfield sites, but high quality design and infrastructure are essential if these homes are to meet the needs of communities now and in the future.”
Infrastructure was also a key element of the manifesto with the party saying that they “plan to invest over £100bn in our infrastructure over the next Parliament”, deliver on our National Infrastructure Plan and respond to the Airports Commission’s final report.
This will include an investment of £38bn in the railway network in the five years to 2019, including further electrification as well as rolling out HS2 and HS3, completing Crossrail, and pushing forward with plans for Crossrail 2.
On these commitments, Nick Baveystock, director general at the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE), said: “Infrastructure forms the backbone of the economy and society – the Conservative manifesto rightly recognises this and many initiatives launched over the past five years are testimony to that – not least the creation of our first National Infrastructure Plan.”
However, he warned that cross-party action was needed to create a long-term plan for the industry. “We are, however, at a critical time. We need to now take things to the next level. This means developing a long-term vision for infrastructure – one which invests in the upkeep of our local roads and flood defences on a longer term basis and builds resilience. Importantly, we also need a framework that achieves cross-party consensus on the vision and this is something all parties must take a position on”, he said.
The Liberal Democrats also launched their pre-election manifesto earlier this week.
Other policies in the Conservative manifesto included:
- Creation of 3 million new apprenticeships
- To take everyone earning less than £12,500 out of income tax
- No rise in VAT, National Insurance contributions or income tax
- An increase of the effective Inheritance Tax threshold for married couples and civil partners to £1m
- Provision of access to GPs seven days a week
