Budget measures affecting the housing market, business rate reform, infrastructure and city development gave the region’s property sector plenty of food for thought – with many commentators saying the Chancellor could have done much more.
David Westgate, chief executive of Keynsham-based estate agency and property group Andrews, welcomed the stamp duty changes – but said they were not strong enough. 
“It is encouraging to see that the Chancellor has announced that stamp duty will be abolished for first-time buyers on property purchases of up to £300,000 and for higher value areas such as London, on the first £300,000 of a property’s price. It doesn’t, however, go far enough in my view,” he said.
“Stamp duty is one of the biggest, if not the biggest, obstacles in getting our housing market really moving and I, along with many others, would have welcomed the removal, or at least reduction, of the surcharge on second properties.
“The Chancellor’s pledge to guarantee that 300,000 new homes are built each year is to be welcomed. A lack of supply is currently skewing the market and has for a long while needed to be addressed.
“However, the proof here will be in the pudding. Simply, this is a very complex subject and isn’t just a case of building more properties. To successfully achieve this, we need to start with an assurance that the planning system is fit for purpose and won’t encroach the realisation of this much-needed target.”
At commercial property agents CBRE’s Bristol-based director James Graham said there was little radicalism to catch the eye of real estate decision makers.
“Nevertheless, we were pleased to see further action on business rates and significant spending on housing supply measures. It was refreshing to see specific acknowledgement given to build-to-rent development. But there was an immediate watering down of the Chancellor’s 300,000 homes a year target, announced only a few days ago.”
And CBRE head of rating in Bristol Rohan Short added: “We welcome the scrapping of the staircase tax, a common sense move which could save rate payers up to 30% on annual bills.
“The three-yearly revaluations will more accurately track the rental market on which rateable values are based. This will prevent cliff edge changes to bills as witnessed in 2017. This is good news for businesses, in particular retailers, giving them more clarity on their future occupancy costs. The Chancellor leaves the door open to move the date of the next revaluation of 2022, thus avoiding any potential clash with the General Election in the same year.
“The linking of rates liability increases to CPI growth from 2018 does not go far enough. A £2.3 billion saving over 5 years is welcome, but the Chancellor should have followed his predecessor’s lead and capped the increase in April 2018 at 2%.”
JLL described the 300,000 homes per year target as “very ambitious” but said with delivery volumes up by 74% since 2013, the government could achieve it by 2020 – “in time for the next General Election”.
However, it added: “There is a looming labour crisis that will undermine this target if it is not addressed. The shortfall of workers means a modernisation towards digital construction techniques is badly needed. Modular construction can also make an important contribution to quality improvements alongside higher volumes, crucial to restoring public confidence in the industry.”
It also said the ‘use it or lose it’ planning pressure announced by the Chancellor on housing permissions would not support supply.
“There is little evidence of land banking, and these rules will force housebuilders to hold fewer sites on their own books,” it said.
“A greater use of option agreements and land promotion has the potential to create upward pressure on land prices, ultimately feeding through to sales prices.
“A genuine debate on development in appropriate greenfield locations is long overdue. Government should focus on locations where local infrastructure can support new development, or where it can provide this investment to enhance the quality of public services in local communities.”
At GVA Gordon Isgrove, who is based in its Bristol office, said while the housing measures were positive they are unlikely to be sufficient to deliver the step change required to address the supply side problem in areas of high demand
“Housing remains one of the big issues for this country and continues to be the focus for government and Treasury, aiming to enable greater access to home ownership,” he said.
“The ambition to deliver 300,000 per annum is a big ask compared to previous completion rates, the problem being that housing delivery can be long and complicated; so you can’t just increase supply, like turning on a tap. The abolition of stamp duty for the majority of first-time-buyers will grab headlines, although this can only have a limited impact on what is a supply-side problem; it is just as likely to increase house prices in areas of low supply.
“We need to support and boost small developers to grow and increase supply of housing, new innovative construction techniques to speed up construction and resource local authorities to speed up the planning process, which are identified in the budget. The measures in the budget are positive but they are unlikely to be sufficient to deliver the step change required to address the supply side problem in areas of high demand.
“Infrastructure investment is a key plank in raising productivity, as well as helping to facilitate both housing and economic growth. It is therefore disappointing that the Chancellor was not able to announce further financial commitments from his long shopping list of important schemes. We need more investment infrastructure in the South West region to enable us to be competitive, to grow on our success.”
