CONSERVATIVE PARTY CONFERENCE 2016: Grainger chief executive Helen Gordon has called on government to “even the playing field” between housing for sale and housing for rent.
Providing an “income stream” to incentivise local authorities to see housing for rent on their own land was one measure Gordon would like to see brought forward, she told Estates Gazette at a British Property Federation fringe event.
Grainger plans to invest more than £1bn in the private rented sector by 2020. This week, housing minister Gavin Barwell has repeatedly said government will support institutional investment in PRS.
However, he has said he will not reveal specific policies until the housing white paper, which is expected to be released at the same time as the Autumn Statement on 23 November.
SEE ALSO: Barwell: Housing white paper will set out ‘full range of policies’
Gordon said she would like to see a reduction in the 3% additional stamp duty on second homes.
Responding to communities secretary Sajid Javid’s comments yesterday that housebuilding should be a “moral duty”, she said: “I think it was a really interesting statement.
“There has been conviction that we need more homes in this country by this government and previous government.
“And I think to use that phraseology will have great resonance with a number of us that have been trying for so long to actually build more homes.”
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