Editor's note: This brief was summarised by The Property AI Newsroom from a report by Mortgage Strategy. Read the original article for full details.
AMI urges ministers to listen to industry on housing reform
The Association of Mortgage Intermediaries (AMI) has issued a wishlist for the new government, urging ministers to listen to the people who work in the housing market as wider policy is developed. The new prime minister has pledged the biggest council housebuilding programme since the post-war period, but the government has yet to set out its broader housing plans.
Build the right homes, not just more of them
AMI argues the government should place homeownership firmly alongside affordable renting as a central objective, citing its role in building household wealth and long-term financial security. It also calls for the right mix of homes: more starter homes and more attractive options for older owners to downsize into, freeing up family homes. Any successor to Help to Buy should be carefully targeted at first-time buyers purchasing entry-level properties.
On stamp duty, AMI highlights that first-time buyer relief ends at £300,000, well below the £450,000 Lifetime Isa cap, leaving buyers in more expensive areas facing a tax bill on the very purchase their Lisa was designed to support.
Deliver on homebuying reform
June's publication of the government's reform roadmap, covering upfront sales packs, digital property logbooks and binding conditional contracts, gave the industry clarity it had been calling for, AMI notes. Pilot schemes using shared digital property data have cut the time from mortgage offer to exchange to as little as four weeks, yet the average transaction still takes around four months and roughly one in three falls through. AMI asks that the necessary legislation be prioritised when parliament reconvenes after the summer, arguing firms will only invest in change they trust will be seen through.
Advice and the rental sector
AMI also stresses the vital role mortgage advisers play in turning policy into good consumer outcomes, noting that today's borrowers face a more complex market with shared ownership, family-assisted mortgages and varied repayment structures, making professional advice more valuable as choice grows. Safeguards should not be stripped away in pursuit of a faster journey.
The council housebuilding pledge will mainly deliver homes to rent, which AMI says should ease pressure on the private rental sector, where rising rents have stretched affordability and made it harder for first-time buyers to save a deposit. The organisation also calls on the government to recognise the continuing importance of private landlords, noting recent governments have often treated buy-to-let unfavourably.
For letting agents and inventory clerks, the emphasis on rented council homes, pressure on private rental affordability and the government's reform roadmap are the points most likely to shape the sector in the months ahead.
Source: Mortgage Strategy