Investment in housebuilding and affordable homes gets the thumbs up.

Government funding will now be available for 40,000 affordable rent, shared ownership and Rent to Buy homes. This is a major departure from previous government housing policy, where the focus was on home ownership.

It’s good to see that rented homes are back on the agenda. For a long time the political message has been that home ownership is the only tenure that makes you a valuable part of the market. Those in rented were forgotten and perhaps seen as slightly outside of the economy. We all know that people are in rented properties for a diverse number of reasons, including some who have a range of support needs; some of those, even with the best intentions are unlikely to get the opportunity to purchase a home on the open market.

The chancellor also outlined plans to ban letting agent fees in his first major statement. This is welcome move for renters who feel ripped off by high administrative fees, including charges for printing tenancy agreements.

Letting agents are already protesting against the plan and say that the loss of income will simply be passed on in higher costs for landlords, who will in turn pass it on to tenants in the form of higher rents.

They have been banned in Scotland, with Shelter finding rents not rising as a result, as many private landlords say they will.  Shelter research from 2013 which showed just 2% of landlords in Scotland increased rents because of an increase in letting agent’s fees.

So it seems that the Autumn Statement's put rented back on the agenda.

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