The Mayor of London and London councils should be building social housing — and have the power to exempt those homes from the government's 'right to buy' scheme, says a leading professional association.
In its most recent market report (Pdf, registration required), The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) proposes the solution as a way of tackling soaring house prices in the capital.
New buyer enquiries rose for the 10th month in a row in January, the report says, as investors are rushing to complete purchases before a new rate of 3% stamp duty for buy-to-let properties comes into effect in April."The mayor should, in partnership with London boroughs, lobby government to allow the Greater London Authority and councils to act as developers and to support others to build homes," said Chris Day, the chair of RICS’ London regional board.
"This should be done under an arrangement where new homes are exempt from right to buy if social or affordable. And if these are sold at a discount, they should not be resold in the open market at full price but remain within a discounted market aimed at low- and middle-income groups. This partly fits with new government ambitions around direct commissioning."
There's a deeper look at this story at Inside Croydon.
