Intermediate housing

I am hoping that a shared ownership scheme will help me to get on the property ladder. Without it, the prospect of owning property for someone of my generation (born 1994) would be completely unfeasible. I would like to see shared ownership schemes being promoted more so more people are aware of it, and I would like to see more easily accessible information about the schemes.

Introduce a levy on private landlords owning multiple properties in order to drive down buy to let house prices. Far too many people (esp the young) have no prospect of owning an affordable home because of the excessive returns and lack of risk involved in being a landlord

Counting NHS hospital NONclinical / support staff ; Administration Etc as key workers as well would be  good start. It's a travesty that we are not counted as key workers yet remove us and a hospital cannot function. 
 

Shared Ownership has proved to be a tenure that has trapped people, and is too complex, badly administered by many landlords. Intermediate rents, London Living Rent, is a far better option, allowing those who can’t pay huge private rents but can’t access Council or Housing Association social rented properties, to be able to live in London without putting all their cash into rents. If people wish to save up for a deposit and become home owners, they can do so as well. In terms of who should be at the front of the queue to get intermediate housing, our COVID heroes, key workers from all types of employment, must surely be at the front of the queue?

The regulation of the rental market is essential. Not just in terms of cost but also in terms of quality. A city-wide rental regulator is needed to get the situation under control.

below is a vision of what this might look like. 

The regulator would set the maximum and minimum rental cost per month by property size and location. This would reduce the incentive for landlords to purchase property for rental at an inflated price and prevent areas of London from becoming unaffordable to low paid workers. 

The regulator would also approve property for rental. Many older properties offered by landlords fall below the minimum  housing standards having been converted to maximise profit rather than quality of life. The regulator would inspect properties before granting a certificate allowing it to be used as a rented property certifying that if complies with a standards. This would prevent low quality conversions and prevent the construction of low quality homes for rental. 

The regulator would also set maintenance targets for the landlord and the certificate mentioned above would require renewal at frequent intervals via an inspection by the regulator. This would prevent absentee landlords allowing their properties to decay, compromising the health and wellbeing of occupants while they still revive an income. 

Failure to meet any of the strict standards set by the regulator would mean that the certificate could be withdrawn preventing the property from being privately rented.  

The regulator, rent caps and the certificate would over time reduce the number of private landlords, allow people to save a greater portion of their income through reduced rents and thus increase spending in local communities. 
 

More council houses for key staff earning less than £35k a year.

Too many private developments strangling London and its environment. Covud19 should be a warning that millions of people crammed together is a gift for diseases and vermin.

Councils are reducing pest control.

In Barnet/Finchely too many new developments. Short time employment for quick money selling  properties for the rich and destroying communities. 

How can you sell affordable housing in a block of flats costing £500000 each !!

At the time the Keyworker scheme was fantastic; however,  I would like to move on to a larger home to accommodate my family. The issue is the repayment percentile is so high that I cannot afford to buy the house I am currently in and would have to start again. As you can imagine this means I am stuck.... If the arrangement to payback what was the amount borrowed + a small percentile this would enable many locked in to move and release the money back into the scheme. 

Private rents should not exceed mortgage repayments on the property. The buy to let industry is theft. There should be long term lease protection so renters feel safe in their home, that they will continue to be able to afford the rent and will not be a evicted so the landlord can get in a new tenant at a higher rent.

Absolutely.  Affordable rents and security of tenure must have priority.  And while land values escalate, it's only the rich that get richer, leaving the less well-off to suffer.  Shared ownership is OK but needs elimination of onerous leasehold 'aggreements'.

I strongly agree with other posts here which say we desperately need rent caps in London. It's a disgrace that rents were not subject to caps years ago. Plenty of workers couldn't even afford shared ownership purchases before the Covid crisis, and I only dread to think how homes will now be effected. It would be the ideal time to introduce rent caps right now, for the many who could never hope to get anywhere near the property ladder.

From anecdotal experience, a small two bedroom flat purchased under shared ownership could cost two thirds of an individual's salary all together (with mortgage, rent, bills and other costs). I cannot see how this can be seen as 'affordable housing' unless it were a couple or group making the shared purchase.

I am happy living alone, which means I will never be a home owner as long as I stay in London, shared ownership or not.

While I am sympathetic to the various ideas (LL Rent, Intermediate Housing, etc.) I believe these will only be successful with heavy HMG subsidy. This of course will come from taxes, paid by all (incl. those living o/s London - who may resent subsidising London prices). What may be more effective is to have a statutory cap on all private rents; have tents set by an independent body based upon a national formula and to reinforce compliance by instituting a punitive tax on excess rental charges, e.g. 90p for every £1 in excess.  I sm sure that many will comment that this will drive landlords out of the business and reduce available accommodation. I believe this to be wrong. The properties themselves will not disappear and most landlords will appreciate the long term beneefits to society.  Those that do not may leave properties empty but a compulsory tax on empty properties and a shoter, easier compulsory purchase regime would soon reverse this trend.