UK Housebuilders' Shares Slump On "Help To Buy" Worries

Shares in British homebuilders have slumped after an article in trade publication Property Week cast doubt over the future of the government's "Help to Buy" scheme which is aimed at boosting home ownership among first-time buyers. The article said the government had begun a review of the scheme which could result in it being wound down or replaced before its scheduled end in April 2021. A spokesman for Britain's planning ministry said the "Help to Buy" equity loan scheme was regularly reviewed. "To infer from that that it will be cancelled is incorrect," the spokesman said. Read more on the Reuters website.

Over 250,000 Have Given Up On The Dream Of Homeownership

Over 250,000 non-homeowners appear to have given up on the dream of homeownership in the past year alone, according to the 2017 Homeowners Survey, an annual study into the concerns, views and issues affecting homeowners and aspiring homeowners. The study found that for the first time in five years, there has been a drop in the number of non-homeowners who aspire to own. In 2013, 65% of non-homeowners aspired to homeownership, with this number increasing every year and peaking at 73% in 2016. But this year, the numbers have fallen for the first time, back to 71%. The stats mirror the rise of the government’s flagship Help to Buy programme which is now receding with the cancellation of the mortgage guarantee part of the scheme in 2016. Read more on the Homeowners Alliance website.

DWP Finally Acts To End Housing Benefit 'Maladministration' Scandal

The work and pensions secretary, Iain Duncan Smith, has belatedly acted to end a bureaucratic bungle which caused thousands of sanctioned jobseekers to wrongly incur rent arrears and face eviction.  Guidance slipped out by the DWP last week clarifies that local authorities should not automatically stop a claimant’s housing benefit payment in the event of them having their unemployment benefit stopped by job centre officials.  The problems were caused by DWP computer systems wrongly informing local authority housing benefit departments that a claimant’s job seeker benefit had been cancelled when it had in fact been temporarily suspended. Read more on the Guardian website.

Abandoned British Gas Scheme Restarted

A £20m home insulation scheme which was controversially cancelled in Nottingham has restarted. Changes to the Energy Companies Obligation led to British Gas pulling funding towards a scheme which would have insulated hundreds of houses. Nottingham South MP Lilian Greenwood said she was delighted it was going ahead after months of campaigning. British Gas said the decision followed extensive talks with the housing association Nottingham City Homes. About 2,000 people living in council-owned and privately-owned homes in Clifton signed up to the scheme only to be disappointed in January when British Gas announced it could no longer afford to provide funding. Read more on the BBC website.

Council Tightens Rules on Right to Buy

Sandwell Council is tightening its rules on money laundering and the sale of council homes at a discount to combat possible fraud. Council officers have been responsible for the cancellation or withdrawal of seven Right to Buy applications with an estimated value of £321,750 following investigations. And they are checking 94 sales out of 481 which have raised concerns, according to a report to the council's deputy leader Councillor Steve Eling.  There was a surge in applications two years ago after the Government raised the maximum discount on a property's value to £75,000. The Audit Commission in 2012 warned there had been a 168 per cent increase in fraudulent applications across the country. Read more on the Sandwell Council website.