Builders cheer boost for housing

THE housing industry cheered the Chancellor's endorsement of the Barker Review on Britain's housing supply, with its promise of a more efficient planning system coupled with tax incentives to develop brownfield land.

Meanwhile property pundits licked their lips over a possible acceleration in selling off councils' estimated £88bn estate of property for development.

The London boroughs of Hackney, Southwark, Tower Hamlets, Lambeth and Lewisham are thought to be keen to sell buildings they do not use for services.

Housebuilders managed to swallow the prospect of a tax on land ownership after assurances that brownfield sites, those previously built on, would not be penalised.

Soaring share prices among the country's 12 biggest housebuilders since the Budget have added £500m to their total market value, which is now nearly £12.5bn.

David Pretty, chief executive of Barratt Developments, the biggest housebuilder by unit sales, said: 'We will be increasing our numbers as we have for 12 years, experimenting with steel frame off-site manufacturing and will continue our development of brownfield.'

The Chancellor said sales of financial assets including property would continue, raising about £5.5bn this year and next, £1bn of it from central Government. The rest would come from local authorities, which own property worth about £12bn of property such as High Street shops.

Hugh Mulcahey of DTZ's consulting arm said: 'The private sector could work in partnership with them to show how to invest money upfront, rationalise their office portfolio and release scarce and valuable inner-city land while improving service delivery.'