This is what Sajid Javid said to his pals the housebuilders yesterday:
Click the link for a transcript of his speech
"Helping housebuilders to get building" Javid is apparently on first name terms with Stewart
("I'm a great believer in transparency") Baseley Chief Executive of the Home Builders Federation (HBF) And he admits he is and has been helping
"household name housebuilders" to easier and ever greater profits.
And even great crested newts aren't safe in the rush to throw up yet more badly-built new homes!
His speech is basically a repeat of the contents of the delayed housing White Paper - published as long ago as 7th February 2017.
"Now, I can’t force you to build more homes.
But what I can do is make it as easy as possible for you to build more.
I can remove the barriers, I can unblock the system, I can speed things along.
In short, I can take away the reasons you may have not to build.
And that’s what the Housing White Paper is all about.
Because we’ve been listening – myself, my Housing Minister Gavin Barwell, my officials.
We understand what’s holding you back.
We appreciate that the system hasn’t always served you well.
And we're taking real action to fix it.
So we’re reforming the planning system, making sure it really does objectively assess the need for new homes in different areas.
We’re also going to encourage a higher density of building.
And we’ve shown that we’re not afraid to take tough planning decisions when exceptional circumstances require it.
But this isn’t just about helping the household-name house-builders.
Finally, for the benefit of all builders, we’re streamlining the system for managing great crested newts."
And for the first time he actually touches on the issue of the poor-build quality of new homes:
"It's fair to say that new builds don’t always have the best reputation for quality.
Just last month we heard about one developer paying £7 million to homeowners whose houses were littered with problems and even unfinished.
This isn’t a new issue.
More than a century ago, Jerome K Jerome wrote that: "I want a house that has got over all its troubles; I don’t want to spend the rest of my life bringing up a young and inexperienced home."
But it’s a problem for which, in 2017, there’s really no excuse.
And if it’s not solved, it risks undermining public confidence in new-build homes – something that would be bad for the sector and really bad for the country as a whole."
But no measures to protect new homebuyers and drive up quality.
And on the subject of Leasehold new houses, the industry's PPI scandal, he is sadly misguided:
"I don’t like legislating to fix problems like this.
I know that most builders and developers are fair, honest, sensible people.
Most of you don't use leasehold in this manner.
Of those who do, several have started making positive noises about the future.
And the last thing I want to do is tie the industry up in more red tape at a time when supply is already so far short of demand.
But as a government committed to building a fairer society, I don’t see how we can look the other way while these practically feudal practices persist.
So I will look to ensure Help to Buy Equity Loans are only used to support new build houses on acceptable terms.
This will send a serious message to the building industry: if you want the government to help you build and sell homes, you have to sell them on fair terms."
Nice to know that my ideas are being considered!
The trouble is, Help to Buy ends in 2021 (or earlier) and until the selling of new houses as leasehold is made illegal, greedy housebuilders will continue to take advantage of new home buyers, especially those bribed into using the builder's preferred choice of solicitor!
