Industry groups have responded positively to the new measures - with some exceptions.
Industry groups have reacted positively to the government's housing reforms, announced yesterday.
Communities secretary Hazel Blears unveiled a raft of new policies, including a headline-grabbing one-year suspension of stamp duty for purchases of properties worth £175,000 or less. A £1 billion scheme to build more social housing was also mooted, along with more rapid access to mortgage benefits for people having trouble with making their repayments.
A new loans service backed by lenders was also announced, which could see low-income homebuyers borrow up to 30 percent of the cost of their property for "free", before paying a fee when the loan period was finished.
The Home Builders Federation welcomed the changes as "positive", and said that they would benefit the "hard-pressed first-time buyer". The Confederation of British Industry Agreed, terming the reforms "useful".
Charity Citizens Advice was also upbeat about the measures, saying that they had been pushing for similar reforms "for some time". Chief executive David Harker added: "Helping people stay in their homes will reduce the risk of social exclusion that arises when families have to enter temporary accommodation, with children having to change schools before eventual re-housing, possibly involving yet another change of school for the children."
However, the National Association of Estate Agents was critical of the plans, suggesting that they did not go far enough in alleviating the UK's housing problems.
"We have been saying, along with others, that the [stamp duty] minimum should have gone up to £250,000," said chief executive Peter Bolton King. "I wouldn't have thought the chancellor would have lost that much more money by putting it up to £250,000, [but] it is a step in the right direction."
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