CPRE: Affordability issues set to stay

According to the organisation, property prices tend to be set by existing housing stock rather than by new builds, with this fact acknowledged by the government’s own research into the market and issues of affordability facing prospective first-time buyers by Kate Barker.

“Actually building houses in itself isn’t going to solve affordability problems because new housing stock forms a very tiny proportion of the overall housing stock,” said Paul Milner, planning campaigner for the CPRE.

“Most of the new housing that we have built in the last ten to 15 years has just been sold at market rates and often because first-time buyers find it difficult to compete with the market rate now, these new homes are being bought and end up in the hands of buy-to-let investors or speculators,” he added.

Mr Brown recently announced that the government is to set aside around £10 billion for more social housing over the next three years in addition to promising a 20 per cent increase in the current house-building programme, aimed to assist the thousands of Britons struggling with debt and rising house prices.