Nationwide boss urges building boom to solve UK housing crisis

Britain needs a building blitz to solve its housing crisis, Nationwide Building Society’s boss said on Friday.

The government and the private sector need to link up, fight off planning objections and get cracking, said chief executive Joe Garner.

Communities secretary Sajid Javid yesterday blamed the mortgage-free elderly for being resistant to change.

Garner says policies have too often been aimed at boosting demand rather than supply.

He said: “The only time that supply has kept up with demand has been when both the public and private sector have been firing on all cylinders. That hasn’t happened since the 70s. The only way to solve this is more supply.”

He was speaking a few days ahead of a budget that could call for a shake-up of the stamp duty laws.

A building blitz could upset green belt campaigners and NIMBYs. Garner said: “I assume there are large parts of the British Isles where it wouldn’t be a problem.”

In the half-year to September, Nationwide recorded another strong set of results, but said it was taking a more cautious outlook.

Profits slipped by £68 million to £628 million. But the society opened 427,000 new current accounts, more than the rest of the big banks combined. The set-aside for bad debts rose by £22 million to £59 million, but Nationwide says that it is just being cautious, rather than a sign that customers are struggling.

“Affordability is under more pressure from the impact of inflation,” it admits.

Nationwide says members have benefited to the tune of £245 million from lower mortgages and higher savings in the period.

Garner added: “Our primary purpose is not to make a profit. We are taking a slightly more cautious view of the future, but that’s a result of uncertainty, we are not seeing any deterioration in performance.”

Nationwide says competition in the mortgage market is “intense”, which could see its share of lending fall.