Councils should be allowed to charge council tax on homes that should been built on stalled development sites, as part of proposals included in a new report to boost housing supply.
The report, published by KPMG and Shelter, calls for urgent action by the Government to tackle the housing shortage with new figures showing house prices could quadruple in twenty years.
As well as councils being allowed to charge council tax on homes that should have been built by developers, it also calls for planning authorities to be given the power to create ‘New Homes Zones’. Led by local authorities, the report said this measure would be self-financing by sharing in the rising value of land.
Marianne Fallon, UK head of corporate affairs at KPMG, said: ‘Three examples of bold moves which could meaningfully shift the status quo include empowering local authorities to create ‘new home zones’, which could generate over 8,000 additional homes per year; increasing the diversity of the building industry through ‘Help to Build’ funding to support SMEs and giving local authorities more borrowing power to build.
‘As the housing crisis rises in the consciousness of the electorate, there could be political prizes for those who are prepared to throw their arms around this large and complex issue.’
The report also calls for the creation of a new National Housing Investment Bank to provide low cost, long term loans for housing providers, and for new homes to be at the heart of City Deals.
Campbell Robb, Shelter’s chief executive, said: ‘The reality is that government backed mortgages like Help to Buy or tweaks to planning rules will only ever be sticking plaster solutions that risk making the problem worse, not better.
‘We will only build the homes we need by creating a healthier housebuilding market through boosting small builders, giving towns and cities more power, finding new investment, and getting land into the hands of those who can get building high quality, affordable homes.’
