Abstract
This report examines what measures can be taken to reduce housing market
volatility in the UK.
The housing market has experienced persistent boom and bust cycles for the past 40 years. These cycles distort housing choices and increase risk. They drive mortgage arrears and repossession rates, curtail housebuilding capacity and increase intergenerational inequality. Yet policy-makers have done little to tackle
the problem. This report contains the conclusions of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation’s Housing Market Taskforce. It argues that urgent action is needed now before another boom and bust cycle takes hold.
The report examines:
• how improving housing supply can limit volatility in the long run;
• how using credit controls and reforming taxation could limit volatility in the short run;
• how promoting financial capability among borrowers and responsible lending could be combined with an improved safety net to limit mortgage arrears and repossessions;
• the possibilities for developing alternatives to home-ownership.
volatility in the UK.
The housing market has experienced persistent boom and bust cycles for the past 40 years. These cycles distort housing choices and increase risk. They drive mortgage arrears and repossession rates, curtail housebuilding capacity and increase intergenerational inequality. Yet policy-makers have done little to tackle
the problem. This report contains the conclusions of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation’s Housing Market Taskforce. It argues that urgent action is needed now before another boom and bust cycle takes hold.
The report examines:
• how improving housing supply can limit volatility in the long run;
• how using credit controls and reforming taxation could limit volatility in the short run;
• how promoting financial capability among borrowers and responsible lending could be combined with an improved safety net to limit mortgage arrears and repossessions;
• the possibilities for developing alternatives to home-ownership.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Place of Publication | York |
| Publisher | Joseph Rowntree Foundation |
| Number of pages | 99 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 978 1 85935 838 2 (pdf) |
| Publication status | Published - 2011 |
