David Whittaker, chief executive of Keystone Property Finance, told Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Housing Angela Ryder that there was “no chance at all” of meeting the new government's target of 1.5 million homes. ” he says.
Speaking on a panel at the Specialist Lending Expo, Whittaker said the goal may not be achieved, but “it's a question of direction.” 
“If by the time she gets to Grade 5 we’ve reached 300,000 people, I think we should say we’ve done a good job, whatever your opinion. It’s something no government has been able to achieve in the last quarter of a century. I think we've achieved that. She's going to leave.” ”
But Mr Whittaker says: “Without a functioning planning system, we will never meet the Labor Government's 1.5 million jobs promise over the next five years.”
Adrian Moloney, group intermediary director at OSB Group, also spoke on the panel, suggesting Labor had found itself in this situation in a “perfect storm”.
“They came into government in much better circumstances than they would say after Liz Truss' mini-budget in September 2022,” Moloney said.
“The economy is starting to get back on track, inflation has come down, mortgage rates have come down, so from a housing perspective and from a mortgage market perspective, the trajectory is on an upward trend and if it continues, there will be no crisis. Not falling into a bad place. ”
Mr Moloney emphasizes that he needs to serve as housing minister for a long time to bring about change. Since 2010, there have been 15 housing ministers, leading to an inconsistent approach.
He said Labor had an “opportunity to make further progress as the economy looks to be heading in the right direction”.
The panel also discussed the recent 2% stamp duty increase for second homes, announced by Finance Minister Rachel Reeves in last month's Budget.
Barry Searle, managing director of Castle Trust, said: “Decisions taken in recent years have meant that landlords and individual landlords have been removed from time to time, so what we now have is more organized and professional landlords. ”.
“But we have to look at the incremental opportunities that come with that, and what we're seeing is an increase in retrofit bridge costs, because if you look at the average gap between the original valuation and the growth development value. , 32%, and the average construction cost is 10%, so 3% can be absorbed.
Searle emphasizes that demand currently exceeds supply.
He said: “There are still too many people wanting a home and there is still debate about what will happen to first-time buyers as stamp duty discounts start from the end of March next year.”
“It will still be mom and dad banks that will help FTBs, because FTBs still need and want a place to live, so the rental market will remain strong.”
Meanwhile, Cox added: “The UK is not building enough homes, we are not building enough social housing stock, so we need to consider where these people will live and where that demand will be met.
He believes demand will be met by the private rental sector, suggesting there will be an “inevitable transition” from amateur landlords to more professional landlords.
“Rental property growth has slowed, which is probably not a bad thing because it was a natural escape, but it's something as simple as people having nowhere else to live, so the BTL market and the private The rental sector will survive,” he added.
He also stressed that a 2% increase would only “recalibrate the market” and would not be “completely fatal.”
