'More houses needed' in the UK

Posted: 29 Sep 2011 17:03:48 GMT

Building on the greenbelt could be a solution for housing shortages, it has been suggested.

More houses need to be constructed in the UK in order to meet increasing demand for accommodation, it has been suggested.

Stuart Law, chief executive officer at Assetz - a group of property investment advisers offering research and solutions to the sector in the UK and abroad - said it would be helpful for the government to consider building more dwellings on the greenbelt.

The industry figure pinpointed this location as one of the places capable of housing new developments - which he claimed are in much need at present.

Mr Law highlighted the lack of abodes in the UK is a pressing problem that will need addressing at one point or another.

With this in mind, the greenbelt could provide the ideal solution, the expert observed.

He went on to point out that the government is unlikely to increase house prices throughout the nation in the foreseeable future because this could prove detrimental to the banking system.

In addition, such a move might serve to destroy the "vast amounts of security" the administration relies on.

"They would end up with people [who have] mortgages bigger than their house value and that could only lead to one thing, which would be banks having huge losses," he explained.

Furthermore, such moves would result in the government having to build a great deal of houses in an effort to drive down prices by one-third.

At least one million properties would need to be constructed in order to even start pushing the costs in a downward motion, Mr Law added.

His comments came after new findings from Nationwide revealed property prices in the UK changed very little across September.

According to the figures, the value of dwellings on the market inched up by as little as 0.1 per cent during the four-week period.
 

© Houseladder Ltd