Government incentivises councils to build new homes
The UK government has followed through with plans to incentivise councils to build new houses in the short to medium term with an array of bonuses and lucrative payments on offer. However, as ever, the devil is in the detail and today we find that in order to fund these significant payments for those who build houses and reach their targets the government will slash grants to local authorities who fall behind schedule. So where will this leave UK taxpayers?
Despite the fact that the idea of incentivising councils to build affordable property has been applauded by many, it is the fact the government is effectively taking away funding for those who do not hit targets which is concerning. Any council suffering a reduction in its budget will need to find additional funding from somewhere else which will inevitably mean higher council taxes in the short-term. So in all honesty there is concern that the UK government has not quite thought through this process and may well have made a mistake.
However, from a property point of view there is no doubt that the UK property market has been way behind the curve in demand for UK properties for many years. Now may be the time for change but is this change the correct one?
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