UK’s housing in crisis yet still not worthy of a top job in Cameron’s Cabinet

High house prices driven by a lack of supply, a new generation rent, parents and grandparents being asked to provide the deposit for their children's first homes. Couple this with a broken system for buying and selling which takes months and costs a fortune, especially for the inexperienced home buyer and seller and you'll understand how stressful it is being an aspiring or existing homeowner in 2014. So why is housing still not a priority for the government?

July 15, 2014 | post last updated on May 8th, 2017

We don’t mean to rant but we can’t understand it. Our homes are our most obsessed about possession but still the Government doesn’t think the issue is important enough to be represented at Cabinet policy discussions by a Cabinet Minister. With an election on the horizon and the opportunity to put things right in the recent reshuffle, we had hoped to see housing bumped up the agenda.

But instead, the man in charge, Kris Hopkins, a junior Minister has been replaced just 10 months after coming into the role. Brandon Lewis is, and for this we should be grateful, at least a Minister of State, is now in charge. He has been given the housing and planning brief. It’s been a while since we’ve seen these responsibilities paired and we’re hopeful that it means more progress can be made in delivering the housing this country needs.

Paula Higgins said today: “The government is presiding over a broken system of buying and selling properties.  We hear our members stories every day and help them with their problems with estate agents, gazumping, leasehold issues, affordable housing options and more. We continue to work to ensure inexperienced buyers and sellers aren’t being taken advantage of and paying over the odds. But only a government Minister with clout can deliver much needed reform to the system and make sure we are building enough homes. ”

Don’t believe homeowners are worried about these issues?  Just look at what was raised in our 2014 Survey of the British homeowner….

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