Stamp duty exemptions and a focus on better housing developments should be top of the government's priorities to boost homeownership in the UK, according to IFAs.
We asked readers of FTAdviser what more the government could be doing to boost housing and homeownership in the UK.
Mortgage brokers, advisers, planners and financial services professionals took to the comments and to Twitter to suggest potential policy changes that would help get more people onto the housing ladder.
Rebecca O'Connor, public affairs lead at PensionBee, commented: "No stamp duty for downsizers would be mega."
Mobeen Tahir, director of macroeconomic research and tactical solutions for WisdomTree, put forward his five-point plan:
1. Abolish stamp duty
2. Hold developers accountable to their commitments
3. Think things through before creating things like the cladding crisis
4. Build more schools and hospitals
5. Plan and develop new towns.
Stamp duty exemptions were also popular with chartered financial planner Matt Vosper, who tweeted there should be "Zero stamp duty on the first £1mn."
Their comments came after FTAdviser reported on widespread disapproval of the government's handling of housebuilding in the UK. You can read the original article here and join the conversation in the comments.
Sebastian Reimann, mortgage, protection and equity release specialist in Surbiton, said: "I do not think building blindly is the answer. It’s a combination of all of the above but maybe prioritising the national interest.
"Perhaps we should restrict foreign ownership, use what we have already, and focus on building with good infrastructure."
Proposals
More proposals to restrict lending, boost infrastructure and allow flexibility over the pension pot were also put forward.
Benjamin Blyth director of Houz Mortgages, said the government should: "Allow a window of opportunity at age 30 to take up to 50 per cent of accrued pension funds for either a house deposit or to clear student debt.
"People then would be using their own money, not the government's. They will be home owners and still have a pension at retirement - nipping pension poverty in the bud."
Meanwhile, Chris Budd, founder of the Initiative for Financial Wellbeing and chairperson of Ovation Finance, had a different perspective.
He said: "May I suggest that this is the wrong question? We only have a finite amount of land.
"Maybe there is another solution, other than building on our green spaces, such as accepting that we have to live in smaller homes."
Financial services competition specialist Alastair Wainwright, said he believes there should be a focus on lending responsibly, too.
He tweeted: "We should keep rates high. Cap mortgages at 75 per cent LTV and introduce an annual property tax of 0.1 per cent of the value of the property."
