Janet Burnell, sales and marketing director of Pentland Homes, looks ahead to the coming 12 months.

As we enter a New Year, I find myself looking ahead and anticipating what will happen in 2011.

There will be some major factors which will affect the housing market, such as the VAT increase and various government reforms.

Recently, we have noticed that mortgage lenders are beginning to offer more realistic terms, and we hope that this will continue as bank lending is a huge barrier preventing people, particularly first-time buyers, from stepping on to and moving up the housing ladder.

We would never suggest that the banks return to the days of 120 per cent mortgages as this is unsustainable and leads to sharp rises and falls in the market. Currently, providing you have a deposit and a good credit rating, mortgage deals are available and I expect that this will also be the case throughout 2011.

The long-awaited Localism Bill is expected to come into effect in 2011; this bill will see planning powers taken away from Whitehall and given to local councils. This could become very significant news for the house-building industry, as local communities will be able to decide where and how to build new homes to suit their needs, rather than being given quotas from central government.

We are hopeful that this change will encourage local house-builders in Kent to produce some much needed homes for the area, in a way that is appropriate and suitable. If more homes are built, hopefully it will be easier for first-time buyers to purchase and others to downsize – especially as house-builders are often in a better position to offer deals and incentives than those operating in the resale market.

Another factor which could impact the housing market in 2011 is housing minister Grant Shapps’ recent reform of the social housing system. Mr Shapps plans to introduce a new system that sees the end of life-long assured terms in favour of flexible tenancies which are reassessed as people’s circumstances change. This reform could have a knock-on effect on the private housing market.

For more details on Pentland Homes or its Kent developments, go to http://www.pentlandhomes.co.uk/