“Housing is critical to the UK’s economic recovery. For every pound spent on building a new home, more than three pounds go back into the economy. The Chancellor’s commitment in today’s Budget of the stimulus to house building is, therefore, very welcome. We have been building too few homes over recent years along with an anaemic mortgage market and the enormous challenge facing first time buyers for saving up for a deposit.

“Encouraging sensible development of new homes is the right thing to do, and the Chancellor was right to place further attention on the planning system in today’s Budget. Stimulating the housing market through further mortgage support such as the Help To Buy scheme and Mortgage Guarantees will also help improve transactions and liquidity in the market, which has for some time been constrained.

“The Chancellor is also right to recognise the important role that renting can play, as ownership becomes not only more difficult but also undesirable for a growing number of people. Attracting greater investment for the creation of new, good quality homes for rent should be a key component of any housing recovery plan and the Government has today acknowledged this by expanding the Build to Rent equity fund from £200 million to £1 billion – an enormous fillip for investors wanting to provide long term, high quality rental accommodation in the UK.