Help to Buy may have to be scrapped, Vince Cable warns

Loughton_Monkey

wotsthat wrote: »

According to Peston Mark Carney and the BoE are trying to add themselves to this list..

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-24218287

So what you're saying, is that the list is now:

In the face of critism of the scheme from:
- The IMF
- RICS
- Barclays
- The Institue of Directors
- Mervyn King
- The Housing Federation
- Shelter
- The Local Government Association
- The Parlimentary Committe
- Savills
- LSL
- The Treasury Select Committee
- Next
- Mark Carnage
- Robert Pestoff
- Wotsthat

wotsthat

grizzly1911 wrote: »

Perhaps I have high expectations when persuaded to pay over the odds for a "quality" product or service.

When I bought my first new build (2 bed semi) I really wanted a 6-bed detached set in 1/2 acre of land. Fortunately for me builders realised that my lemonade budget wouldn't extend to a Champagne house so built something I could afford instead.

grizzly1911 wrote: »

Of course, I forgot, the costs for fencing and landscaping will be negligible in most new builds as will floor coverings and decorative materials. Quids in.

Carpet was an office carpet they were throwing out at work. Fences were included the walls were already painted magnolia. I didn't employ landscapers (what FTB's do?).

wotsthat

Loughton_Monkey wrote: »

So what you're saying, is that the list is now:

In the face of critism of the scheme from:
- The IMF
- RICS
- Barclays
- The Institue of Directors
- Mervyn King
- The Housing Federation
- Shelter
- The Local Government Association
- The Parlimentary Committe
- Savills
- LSL
- The Treasury Select Committee
- Next
- Mark Carnage
- Robert Pestoff
- Wotsthat

I'm not on the list.

Can't quite see the point of Help to Buy 2 but the first part is here to stay for a while. The key is to determine whether supply is accelerated and what, if any, the cost to the taxpayer is likely to be.

grizzly1911

wotsthat wrote: »

When I bought my first new build (2 bed semi) I really wanted a 6-bed detached set in 1/2 acre of land. Fortunately for me builders realised that my lemonade budget wouldn't extend to a Champagne house so built something I could afford instead.



Carpet was an office carpet they were throwing out at work. Fences were included the walls were already painted magnolia. I didn't employ landscapers (what FTB's do?).

Size has nothing to do with it. A new build commands a premium, quality should be a given not an added bonus dependant on whether the boys from the toon or the pool built it.

Whatever was used you wouldn't need much of any in new newbuilds.

Graham_Devon

Ed Balls is on the list now.....unfortunately. Kinda ruins it's credibility!

Former Bank of England governor Lord Mervyn King, the International Monetary Fund and Business Secretary Vince Cable have all aired concerns over the scheme but Chancellor George Osborne has pledged to press on.

Balls said: “That is why, along with voices from the Bank of England and the IMF, we are right to be concerned that the Government is boosting housing demand - with a taxpayer mortgage guarantee on houses of up to £600,000 - while doing nothing about the supply of housing which has fallen to its lowest level since the 1920s.

“George, it’s basic economics. If you push up housing demand, but don’t act to boost housing supply, all that happens is that you push house prices up and up. And the end result is that the very people your policy should be helping – young first time buyers - will find it even harder to get on the housing ladder.”

wotsthat

Graham_Devon wrote: »

Ed Balls is on the list now.....unfortunately. Kinda ruins it's credibility!

It's a given that if Labour win then Help To Buy is toast.

Loughton_Monkey

wotsthat wrote: »

It's a given that if Labour win then Help To Buy is toast.

Arguably, if Labour threaten to stop it, Miliband will be toast.

But Osborne has the simple weapon of pulling it just before an election, stealing thunder from Labour.

Graham_Devon

wotsthat wrote: »

It's a given that if Labour win then Help To Buy is toast.

You think so?

I'm not so sure. If it was already in place and labour took over, removing it would be very difficult without damaging the market. It could take several years to wind it down.

CLAPTON

Graham_Devon wrote: »

You think so?

I'm not so sure. If it was already in place and labour took over, removing it would be very difficult without damaging the market. It could take several years to wind it down.

HTB is budget and time limited already so it will 'definitely' wind down

Graham_Devon

CLAPTON wrote: »

HTB is budget and time limited already so it will 'definitely' wind down

There are many things that are budget limited which just see the budget increased. To assume that because the government has set a budget it can never be revisited would be naive at best.

Funding for lending had a set budget and timeframe which was increased. SMI had a budget which was increased (several times over). Just two examples.

The government at the time, 3 years into help to buy will face reducing demand on quite a large scale.

To do that while not damaging the market will take some miracle.

It's for that reason many are suggesting that once the scheme is there, it will be there for a lot longer than anticipated. They may have to go through a winding down process, limiting the budget and percentage year by year to protect against any large scale damage in the market.

We can see the same in thew housing benefit sector. Prices have aligned to what housing benefit pays, and no matter what they do now, they cannot reduce it without the consequences seen. Hence they just keep chnaging the time frame for when they will impose changes. And even then, the changes are tiny.