Support from Government is key to saving property market

Finally the bubble has burst on the ever-increasing price rises, and the market is beginning to settle. It's now a buyers' market where the power no longer lies in the hands of the vendor.
Buyers are waiting for prices to drop, and for a decision on the Government's stamp duty farce which has thrown the situation into even further chaos.
By appearing to be undecided on the stamp duty situation, the Government has made the market even tougher for sellers. What buyer would stump up the money for a new property if, by waiting a few weeks or months, stamp duty can be avoided?
One, often overlooked consequence of this is problems for the estate agency sector.
Halifax recently announced it is to close 53 of its estate agents branches, leading to 100 job cuts. Midlands firm Barbers was placed into administration, and earlier this year Movewithus, the network of independent agencies, estimated that 1,000 of the country's 4,000 estate agencies would close by the end of the year.
This is a real crisis, and one I am hearing from Downtown Liverpool members that is often being overlooked, and in some cases ignored completely.
Downtown has come up with a list of five things the Government should do to help put the market back on its feet:
1. A stamp duty 'holiday'
2. Suspend tax on empty properties
3. Put pressure on the Bank of England to reduce interest rates
4. Support housing associations to purchase empty properties at discounted rates
5. Allow housing associations to buy properties on the open market and rent back to the seller.
Those in the property sector make up a large proportion of Downtown members, and the message is simple: something must be done.
Housing associations could be the key. If the Government released money to the social housing industry, much could be done to help bail out the new homes market. In areas where significant regeneration and house building has taken place, particularly in city centres, there has been a sharp slum in sales.
City centres often have a number of apartments that would be particularly attractive to single people, and housing associations should be at the front of the queue to snap these up - with the right incentive and support from central Government.
Support from the Government is key here. Propping up the struggling housing market, and the estate agency sector, is vital, and will have echoes further down the line if we don't act now.