Gareth Belsham: “Government building targets are pie in the sky.”
People are often conflicted when it comes to housebuilding:
1. Everyone gets that Britain needs more homes.
2. A lot of people back the idea of building more homes.
3. Almost no-one wants lots of new homes on their doorstep.
In other words, people will happily support – and vote for – more housebuilding, just as long as it happens somewhere else.
No Government has ever found a way round this inherent contradiction. That doesn’t mean the Labour Government is wrong to try, but boy has it got a battle on its hands.
Bloom Director Gareth Belsham MRICS joins leading thinkers from across the property industry to identify the issues in a piece in The Telegraph today.
Gareth said: “Residential construction has contracted for two months in a row and November’s decline was the fastest seen since summer.
“With residential developers still chafing at high interest rates – which make it more expensive for them to buy land and build homes – and patchy consumer demand, the Government’s promise is looking ever more pie in the sky.”
Whatever you think of the Government’s housebuilding targets, the combination of falling interest rates, rising house prices and reduced red tape will create a time of opportunity for residential developers and investors in 2025. Watch this space.