Assetz Capital backs action against landbanking
ASSETZ Capital has backed calls from communities secretary Sajid Javid to clamp down on developers who hold on to land without building on it.
Javid said in an interview with The Times this morning that the government would clamp down on the practice of hoarding developments, known as landbanking.
Chancellor Philip Hammond promised a review of this during his Autumn Budget last year and Javid suggested developers could face having planning permission removed or the land taken if they do not hit construction targets.
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Stuart Law (pictured), chief executive of Assetz Capital, voiced support for these measures.
“These are exactly the sort of noises we need to hear coming from government if we are to address the housing crisis, and something we have called for repeatedly over the years, if carefully executed,” he said.
“Last November our investor barometer found that 72 per cent of our investors would strongly support local authorities to carry out compulsory purchase orders for suitable and unused land directly next to towns and villages.
“Only 0.6 per cent of these respondents caveated their support by saying they wouldn’t want any development in their immediate local area.
“At the time we called this the ‘death of the nimby’ and some in the government appear to have read the people’s view perfectly.”
Law said this rhetoric needs to be transformed into tangible results.
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