Stamford Property Values 7.7% higher than year ago

It’s been nearly 18 months since Sajid Javid, the Conservative Housing Minister published The White Paper “Fixing the Broken UK Housing Market”, meanwhile Stamford property values continue to rise at 7.7% (year on year for the council area) and the number of new homes being constructed locally remain slow, creating a potential perfect storm for those looking to buy and sell.

 

The White Paper is important as it will ensure we have long-term stability and longevity in property market as a whole. Stamford homeowners and landlords need to be aware of these issues in the report to ensure they don’t lose out and ensure the local housing market is fit for purpose.  The White Paper wanted more homes to be built in the next couple of decades, so it might seem counter-intuitive for existing property owners to encourage more homes to be built and a change in the direction of housing provision – as this may have a negative effect on their own property.

 Yet the country needs a diversified and fluid property market to allow the economy as a whole to grow and flourish, which in turn will be a greater influence on whether prices increase or decrease in the long term.
 

The first of the four points raised was to give local authorities powers to speed up house building and ensure developers complete new homes on time.  Secondly, statutory methods demanded local authorities and builders build at higher densities (i.e. more houses per hectare) where appropriate.  The other two points were incentives for smaller builders to take a larger share of the new homes market and help for people renting.



Looking at data from the Local Government’s Association in South Kesteven, the council is below the regional average, only spending £23.33 per person, compared the regional average of £32.05 per head – which will mean the planning department will be hard pressed to meet those targets. 

 

 

Also, 87% of planning applications are decided within the statutory 8-week initial period, below the regional average of 89% (see the graph below).  I am slightly disappointed with the numbers for our local authority when it comes to the planning and the budget allocated to this vital service.

I would agree with the government’s ambition to make more efficient use of land and avoid building homes at low densities where there is a shortage of land for meeting identified housing needs, ensuring that the density and form of development reflect the character, accessibility and infrastructure.  It’s all very good building lots of houses, but we need the infrastructure to go with it.


Talking to local homeowners their biggest fear of all this building is a lack of infrastructure for those extra houses (the extra roads, doctors’ surgeries, schools etc.). I know most want more houses to be built to house their family and friends, but irrespective of the density it’s the infrastructure that goes with the housing that is just as important.  This is where I think the White Paper failed to go as far as I feel it should have done.