Edward Church of Strutt & Parker explains why the latest Budget measures to kick start the housing market leave him if not cold, then lukewarm.

I’m neither bowled over nor surprised by much Alistair Darling announced in last week’s Budget. The most positive news was the extra £500m to help the new build market.

The proposal to invest government money into infrastructure projects to enable stalled housing projects to move forward is firmly welcomed. This is a key issue for the development industry where present viability is highly questionable against the planning gain and infrastructure packages required as a result of consents granted over the last two to three years.

However, all the proposals assume a greater supply of sites with planning consent. To achieve this, the UK planning system needs significant simplification and streamlining and the Government should focus its attention on legislation to provide this.

The stamp duty holiday for properties below £175,000, for example, and the extra £80m for shared equity schemes is certainly a boost for first-time buyers.

Although we are seeing signs the market is picking up there is still a real shortage of good sized family properties coming onto the market because sellers remain nervous about prices and potential buyers are still sitting on the fence. It is to help unlock the log jam created that we are repeating our successful Open House Day on May 16 when hundreds of houses across the whole country will be open for viewing.

We regret the fact that the Chancellor has not come up with any proactive solutions of his own to free up the market.

The Budget - and what it means for the housing market

An extra £20bn in home loans with a further £50bn pledged for an asset-backed security scheme to guarantee loans between banks and to get credit moving

Extending the stamp duty holiday for homes up to £175,000 by three months

Injecting £80m to help first-time buyers

£500m to kick-start stalled housing projects – including £100m for councils to build energy efficient homes

An extension to the scheme to offer a mortgage holiday to struggling homeowners facing repossession