Budget round-up for the property industry

Chancellor of the exchequer, George Osborne, has unveiled his plans for the housing industry in this year's Budget. The document unveiled a number of initiatives and schemes, with the intention of boosting the beleaguered housing industry in every sector. 

The FirstBuy aid package, a long overdue scheme, was announced in the Budget. The government expects that this £250m initiative will help 10,000 first time buyers get on the property ladder with a newly built house or flat, as well as create a whole host of jobs for the construction industry. 

The scheme will create huge amounts of homes which will please a number of sectors - letting agents, construction and engineering companies, and landlords' property insurance firms - who may realise increased profits thanks to the scheme. 

Another announcement that will please these industries is the relaxing of red tape over the converting of commercial property into residential property. Currently, this restriction makes it difficult to convert commercial property as planning permission needs to be submitted to a local council. Developers may also need to speak to a planning officer before submitting proposals for a development. 

However, with the removal of the planning permission, it should make transforming the hundreds of empty properties in Britain much easier. 

Osborne also revealed plans to release large areas of land with planning consents through a myriad of public land auctions. Other big planning reforms include a presumption to grant planning to sustainable housing developments and promise to force councils to handle applications within 12 months. 

So what do all these plans mean for the industry? Reducing red tape and increasing homes can only mean some form of prosperity for sectors of the property world. In an ideal world, a shed load of new homes will be built, first-time buyers can hop aboard the property ladder, letting agents can prosper and property insurance companies can see an increase in demand for their services.

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