Shapps: "pulling out all the stops" to aid housing market
Housing minister Grant Shapps has outlined the successes to date of the government’s efforts to boost housing output as well as unveiling a range of measures to help first-time buyers onto the housing ladder.
Shapps announced that he has identified enough government land to build 80,000 homes, and is working with organisations including the BBC and Royal Mail to release enough land for 100,000 homes by 2015.
He also released details of the NewBuy Guarantee scheme “to help those aspiring to buy newly-built properties to do so with just a fraction of the deposit that’s normally required”.
Shapps said: “The pattern of the past has been to produce endless policies and initiatives that simply gather dust on Whitehall shelves and lead to inaction and inertia. But with the Prime Minister putting housing centre stage on the road to economic recovery, I am determined that we shall not repeat these mistakes of the past. That’s why I’m pulling out all the stops for those who want to get on the property ladder, so from March the NewBuy Guarantee scheme will be on hand to help people buying newly built properties with just a fraction of the deposit they would normally need.”
“It’s also why I am working across Whitehall to ensure we release enough public land for 100,000 new homes by 2015. But I’m looking beyond Westminster and want to see organisations like the BBC, Royal Mail and Network Rail also follow our lead,” he added.