Redfern Review calls for cross-party housing measures

The review called for cross-party agreements on 10 and 20-year housing targets, which it said would help developers safely invest.

The Redfern Review has called for cross-party measures including an independent housing commission to boost long-term supply.

The commission would have the power to take a non-partisan approach to long-term housing decisions and would sit alongside the government’s national infrastructure commission, which looks at nationally significant infrastructure.

The review called for cross-party agreements on 10 and 20-year housing targets, which it said would help developers safely invest.

It said long-term increases in supply need to be sustained for over 20 years to reduce housing market pressures.

And it called for a "change in attitude towards supply", adding that local and national politicians as well as the broader public are failing to accept the need for increased supply.

The review added that the independent housing commission would need to analyse Help to Buy and Starter Homes to maximise their impact on homeownership and deliver the best long-term results.

It would also need to focus on all tenures because a ‘fair’ housing market needs a healthy private rented sector and social housing sector.

The Redfern Review into the Decline in Homeownership, published today, was commissioned by the Labour Party and conducted by the chief executive of major housebuilder Taylor Wimpey Pete Redfern.

Peter Williams, executive director of the Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association, said: “The review’s call for a standing independent housing commission are sensible.

“In recent years there has been a clear lack of long-term focus when it comes to housing policy with six different housing ministers since 2010 alone.

“According to IMLA’s latest Intermediary Lending Outlook, three-fifths of mortgage lenders feel the housing minister merry-go-round contributes to the lack of cohesive housing policy.

“An independent body could help address this.”