Acknowledging the fact that we are woefully behind the new homes target - Budget reaction from Richard Pike at Phoebus Software

27 October 2021

Richard Pike, Phoebus Software sales and marketing director, says “This was never going to be a budget that really tackles our housing shortage, the Chancellor had much bigger fish to fry after the pandemic. There was the usual nod with the announcement of further investment to help development on brownfield sites, which acknowledged the fact that we are woefully behind the government’s target to build 300,000 new homes per year. While the £24bn multi-year settlement sounded good, when spoken out loud, we will need to see exactly how that money is to be carved up and over how many years.

“The good news is that all the forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) have improved with the economy set to grow faster than at first predicted, and unemployment unlikely to rise above 5%. This all points to a quicker recovery which in turn should have a knock on effect on confidence. Now we just have to sort out the problem of supply and the market may have a chance to continue to bounce along, even if it doesn’t grow at the rate it did during the stamp duty holiday.”