Interview with David Hannah of Cornerstone Tax
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00:00So, the key question for any first-time buyer, indeed any buyer, is will the outcome of the
00:06election trigger an economic recession?
00:10Against that background, of course, we've seen zero growth in GDP in the last 30 days
00:16against a fractional growth in the month before.
00:19Well, it's not the most certain position.
00:21If the Bank of England gave a clear signal that rates were going to be cut with an impact
00:25on, I'll call it the forward forecast rates, that would allow mortgage companies to give
00:32better deals.
00:33People would then feel more confident.
00:35That would allow them to make offers on these properties that are on the market, and the
00:39whole thing would kick off.
00:41It would also mean those people who are currently in mortgage difficulties may be able to arrange,
00:46I'll call them time-to-pay plans, against the reflected lower rate to allow them to
00:52pay their way out of the risk, again, reducing potentially the number of properties that
00:56are having to be marketed.
00:58Fundamentally, however one looks at the economics of this market, we are a million homes short
01:04in this country, and we're not seeing that level of activity in construction because
01:09of all these uncertainties.
01:11We're not seeing any incentives towards developers or investors.
01:17Indeed, we're seeing disincentives.
01:20Furthermore, we have a completely, to use a term, sclerotic or clogged up planning system
01:28that seems designed to delay these things.
01:31We need a radical system of measures, not just tax adjustments and interest rate adjustments
01:36to get Britain building.
01:39The faster we can get people under their own roof or under a roof, then we can sort out,
01:46having housed all these people, we will then have no problem with an undersupply, which
01:51has been an upward pressure on house prices, and then maybe we can start to return to a
01:56degree of sanity in the housing market in this country.