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Theresa May is widely expected to shift the focus away from affordable home ownership to affordable renting in the latest Housing White Paper, which is due to be published this week.
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Whereas David Cameron’s government focused on plans to help budding homeowners gain a foothold on the property ladder, Theresa May wants to deliver more secure rental housing to help the millions of people who have been priced out of the housing market.
Changes to Planning Rules
The White Paper will include details of changes to planning rules, which will enable housing developers to offer a proportion of affordable new homes to rent rather than buy. Landlords will also be offered incentives to provide three-year tenancies for families seeking long-term homes.
More Choice and Security
The aim of the changes is to help people in the rental sector have more choice and security. It’s an interesting move away from Tory party housing policy, which has promoted homeownership since the 1980s. In 2015, the Conservative Party Manifesto made lots of noise about pushing affordable new homes for first time buyers, but it wasn’t vocal about the PRS. David Cameron was also keen on the notion of shared ownership schemes, but Theresa May is breaking away from her predecessor’s policies and forging her own path.
The number of people living in the private rental sector has risen dramatically in the last 17 years, but for many families, rental housing costs are unaffordable. Experts are hopeful that the new changes are a step in the right direction for the nation’s renters.
