John Stewart

John Stewart is Director of Economic Affairs at the Home Builders Federation (HBF).

His policy responsibilities include the economy, the housing and mortgage markets, mortgage regulation, NewBuy, demographic trends, housing supply, Affordable Housing, new home valuation, the private rented sector, customer satisfaction and the industry's Consumer Code, the Cumulative Impact of Regulation on viability and supply and Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) initiatives (FirstBuy, Get Britain Building, public land disposal). He maintains close contact with a wide range of housing experts, including officials at the Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG), the HCA, HM Treasury and the Bank of England.

Before joining HBF in 2003 he was an independent housing consultant for over ten years, and previously divisional Sales & Marketing Director for house builder Wates. His publications included a monthly Viewpoint column in Housebuilder and Building a Crisis (2002) which highlighted the growing housing supply crisis in England and began to consider its social and economic consequences.

He has an MA in English from Auckland University and an MSc in Economics from Birkbeck College, London.

John Stewart’s Viewpoint

Nov. 1, 2007

CABE regularly slams the quality of new homes, but the quango’s housing audit process appears far from transparent or balanced, as one would expect from a publicly funded organisation

Facing facts

Oct. 1, 2007

It is disappointing that so little time is being devoted to housing during the party conference season although the crisis remains high on the political radar in London and beyond

Market stress

Oct. 1, 2007

Although there are conflicting signals from the main house price data indices, the market seems to be weakening

John Stewart’s Viewpoint - Grounds for

Sept. 1, 2007

The planning system is the subject of yet more reforms; this time there are grounds for optimism that the new-look system will help achieve a step-change in housebuilding levels

Economics lesson

Aug. 1, 2007

The forthcoming Office of Fair Trading inquiry will eat up precious resources which could be better put to increasing housing supply, but it will hopefully put an end to the fruitless landbanking debate

Industry under

July 1, 2007

The OFT’s study of the housebuilding market may not be welcome, coming on top of Barker and Callcutt and at a time of unprecedented regulation expansion and change, but it could bring some benefits to the industry

The politics of aspiration

June 1, 2007

Falling home ownership levels among aspirational young people dictates that housing will be a prime vote grabber in the next election; Gordon Brown has seen the writing on the wall

Stress testing the policy burden

May 1, 2007

Escalating government demands on residential land values risk undermining the very policy objectives that policy and regulation are designed to achieve

Customers and the new policy agenda

April 1, 2007

The last 12 months have seen a revolution in housing and planning policies, which will have major implications for new home buyers

The least worst option

March 1, 2007

The debate about the government’s proposed planning gain supplement (PGS) calls to mind Churchill’s famous comment on democracy: “No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time”