UK government looks to support housing market
The UK government has given permission to local councils to turn down future housing applications leading to concern that we could see a reduction in the number of homes in the UK and the price of existing homes squeezed higher. Whether this would be an artificial way to support markets in the short term remains to be seen but it is not the perfect solution to what is a very difficult and very challenging situation.
We have already seen a number of local councils step forward to block future housing applications in what many believe is a sign of things to come. Even though the UK property market has been fairly volatile over the last couple of years there is no doubt there is a deep rooted shortage of housing in the UK. However, as soon as the UK government has a change of heart regarding housing strategies for the future this can be rectified fairly quickly with many building firms waiting for the green light to begin work on "new builds".
In many ways the new government is stuck in a no-win situation because ultimately if they give the go-ahead for more housing developments this will reduce demand in the marketplace and if they block new housing developments this could push prices artificially higher. Which situation is the lesser of two evils?
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