As well as increasing supply,the government needs to employ the tax system to make buy-to-let less appealing as an investmentThe housing bill expected in October is surely the time to set out some radical, long-term policies which could truly reform the market. It will be a terrible missed opportunity if instead the bill seeks only to implement the short-term domestic ownership measures so prominent in the election campaign.
These policies supported an aspiration of doubling the number of first-time buyers compared with the previous five years. “Starter homes” are to be sold at a discount of 20% to first-time buyers under 40, or financed by reducing the requirement for infrastructure funding from developers. To deliver the goal of 200000 starter homes built by 2020,this has been extended beyond the original scope of using brownfield sites not previously identified for housing. So now it amounts to a subsidy for 200000 lucky households, at the cost of inadequate infrastructure provision and with less assurance that these units will add to previously planned supply.
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Source: theguardian.com