A report summarized the findings of an inquiry into the medium-term risks to home-ownership, and considered how a safety net to ensure the sustainability of the sector could be developed. The potential risks to sustainable home-ownership included greater flexibility in labour markets, changing patterns of household formation and dissolution, a growth in low-income borrowers, and a blurring of the distinction between borrowing for house purchase and for other forms of consumption.
Source: Steve Wilcox, Home-ownership Risks and Sustainability in the Medium Term, York Publishing Services for Joseph Rowntree Foundation, available from York Publishing Services Ltd (01904 430033)
Links: Report
Date: 2005-Dec
A report evaluated responses to the 'HomeBuy' and 'First Time Buyers Initiative' (part of a package of low-cost home ownership initiatives for those otherwise unable to buy). Overall, the 'New HomeBuy' products were positively received: but there were widespread doubts about the extent to which they could make properties affordable for respondents.
Source: Product Testing of New HomeBuy, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (0870 1226 236) | New HomeBuy Product Testing: Qualitative Research Findings, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister
Links: Summary | Qualitative research
Date: 2005-Dec
A paper said that the relationship between house prices and consumption was stronger for younger than older households.
Source: Orazio Attanasio, Laura Blow, Robert Hamilton and Andrew Leicester, Booms and Busts: Consumption, house prices and expectations, Working Paper W05/24, Institute for Fiscal Studies (020 7291 4800)
Date: 2005-Nov
A study found that there were more than 1.25 million younger households whose incomes would be too high to qualify for housing benefit if they were living in social rented accommodation, but too low to afford a mortgage on even the cheapest homes for sale in their area.
Source: Steve Wilcox, Affordability and the Intermediate Housing Market: Local measures for all local authority areas in Great Britain, York Publishing Services for Joseph Rowntree Foundation, available from York Publishing Services Ltd (01904 430033)
Links: Report (pdf) | JRF Findings 0415 | JRF press release
Date: 2005-Oct
A think-tank paper examined the government s stated reasons for subsidizing home ownership, and the extent to which these provided adequate justification for subsidies.
Source: Dominic Maxwell, Shifting Foundations: Home ownership and government objectives, Institute for Public Policy Research, available from Central Books (0845 458 9911)
Links: Paper (pdf) | Summary
Date: 2005-Sep
Following consultation, the government announced a revised HomeBuy scheme (to promote equity sharing). There would be a new product called 'Social HomeBuy', enabling social tenants to buy a share in the property that they already lived in.
Source: Press release 11 August 2005, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (020 7944 3000)
Links: ODPM press release | NHF press release (pdf)
Date: 2005-Aug
A report said that the vast majority of people believed that living in a safe neighbourhood and being able to afford their housing costs were more important than owning their own home. This called into question the government's policy of using public cash to help first-time buyers rather than build affordable rented homes for those who were homeless or badly housed.
Source: Laura Edwards, Home Truths: The reality behind our housing aspirations, Shelter (020 7505 4699)
Links: Report (pdf) | Shelter press release
Date: 2005-Aug
The second of a series of reports was published on the Survey of English Housing for 2003-04, focusing mainly on owner occupiers. There were an estimated 14.5 million homeowners in England in 2003-04, representing 71 per cent of all households.
Source: Alun Humphrey, Joseph Hewton, David Wall, Shuvro Bose and Robin Oliver, Housing in England 2003/04: Part 2 - Owner occupiers and second homes, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (0870 1226 236)
Links: Report (pdf) | ODPM press release
Date: 2005-Aug
Three linked reports examined the socio-demographic characteristics of first-time buyers, and their patterns of behaviour. Around 20 per cent of so-called first-time buyers were, in fact, 'returners' who were previously homeowners but temporarily left owner-occupation, for example following a relationship breakdown.
Source: Jackie Smith and Bob Pannell, with Alan Holmans and Andrew Thomas, Understanding First-time Buyers, Council of Mortgage Lenders (020 7437 0075) | Alan Holmans, Recent Trends in Numbers of First-time Buyers: A review of recent evidence, Council of Mortgage Lenders | Andrew Thomas, First-time Buyers: The decision to buy, Council of Mortgage Lenders
Links: Smith report (pdf) | Holman report (pdf) | Thomas report (pdf)
Date: 2005-Jul
Researchers sought to establish the characteristics of low-income homeowners and their circumstances. The population of low-income homeowners differed markedly from the population of low-income tenants. The households that appeared to be experiencing real problems were those who had both mortgages and very low incomes.
Source: Pamela Meadows and Daniel Rogger, Low Income Homeowners in Britain: Descriptive Analysis, Research Report 251, CDS/Department for Work and Pensions (0113 399 4040)
Links: Report (pdf) | DWP press release
Date: 2005-Jun
The Regulation of Financial Services (Land Transactions) Bill was given a second reading. The Bill aimed to extend the powers of the financial services regulator to cover home reversion plans and their Sharia-compliant equivalents.
Source: Regulation of Financial Services (Land Transactions) Bill, HM Treasury, TSO (0870 600 5522) | House of Commons Hansard, Debate 23 June 2005, columns 961-993, TSO
Links: Text of Bill | Explanatory notes | Hansard | HMT press release | HOC Library research paper (pdf)
Date: 2005-Jun
The government introduced a Bill to bring home reversion plans, and Sharia-compliant mortgages, under the auspices of the Financial Services Authority.
Source: Regulation of Financial Services (Land Transactions) Bill, HM Treasury, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Text of Bill | Explanatory notes
Date: 2005-May
A pamphlet set out government policies for increasing home ownership by 1 million over 5 years. It proposed an extension of shared equity schemes, and said that government land would be released for the construction of affordable housing. It emphasized the importance of creating mixed communities.
Source: Extending Home Ownership, HM Treasury (020 7270 4558) and Office of the Deputy Prime Minister
Links: Pamphlet (pdf) | CIH press release | NHF press release | Shelter press release | CPRE press release | Guardian report
Date: 2005-May
The government began consultation on proposals to extend the 'Homebuy' scheme, aimed at helping key workers, social tenants and other first-time buyers to buy a share of a home and get a first step on the housing ladder.
Source: Homebuy: Expanding the opportunity to own, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (0870 1226 236)
Links: Consultation document (pdf) | ODPM press release | CIH press release | CML press release | Shelter press release
Date: 2005-Apr
The government announced (in the 2005 Budget) that the stamp duty threshold (on house purchases) would be doubled, from 60,000 to 120,000. It also increased the threshold for inheritance tax by 12,000 to 275,000 in 2005-06, to 285,000 in 2006-07, and to 300,000 in 2007-08.
Source: Investing for our Future: Fairness and opportunity for Britain s hard-working families, HC 372, HM Treasury, TSO (0870 600 5522) | House of Commons Hansard, Debate 16 March 2005, columns 257-269, TSO | House of Commons Hansard, Debate 17 March 2005, columns 419-492, TSO
Links: Report (pdf) | Report (pdf links) | Hansard (Budget speech) | Hansard (Budget debate) | Briefing note (pdf) | HMT press release | CIH press release | RICS press release | Guardian report
Date: 2005-Mar
A report examined what homebuyers wanted and compared this with the supply of housing planned for the future. Research found that over half the population wanted to live in a detached house, 22 per cent in a bungalow, 14 per cent in a semi-detached house, and 7 per cent in a terraced house. Homebuyers placed most value on local services, such as schools, shops and libraries. They also saw 'walkable' neighbourhoods as an opportunity for social contact, and an important way of creating a sense of community.
Source: What Home Buyers Want: Attitudes and decision making among consumers, Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (020 7960 2400)
Links: Report (pdf) | CABE press release
Date: 2005-Mar
A report examined financial solutions for owner-occupation in areas of housing decline, looking specifically at finding solutions for the three most common homeownership problems - affordable homeownership for existing residents; affordable accommodation for existing residents; and affordable homeownership for new and emerging households.
Source: The CHOIR Report: Creating New Home Ownership in Regeneration, Housing Corporation (020 7393 2000)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2005-Feb
A Cabinet Minister said that an extension of home ownership was needed to tackle social inequalities. He said the deepest inequalities were between those who owned concrete assets such as shares or housing, and those reliant solely on wages and benefits. Although more social housing was needed, it was also necessary to break the 'prevailing orthodoxy' that social housing was the only future for those who did not already own their own homes.
Source: Speech by Alan Milburn MP (Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster), 16 January 2005 Links: Text of speech | Guardian report
Date: 2005-Jan
