<p><span>Industry experts have expressed their hopes for housing following Boris Johnson’s appointment as UK prime minister, focusing on housing delivery, stamp duty and planning.</span></p> <p><span>“Looking beyond Brexit to domestic policy, we seek urgent confirmation that solving the housing crisis is at the very top of [Johnson’s] to-do list,” said John Newcomb, </span><span class="xnormaltextrun"><span style='font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif;mso-ansi-language:EN-US'>chief executive of the </span></span><span>Builders Merchants’ Federation. “Mrs May’s government may have set a target of 300,000 new homes a year by the mid-2020s, but if this is to be achieved, the BMF wants long-lasting stability and fresh determination by a Boris Johnson government to narrow the gap between housing demand and supply.”</span></p> <p><span>Nick Leeming, chairman of Jackson-Stops, also urged the new PM to prioritise the property market. He conveyed his wish for stamp duty reform for which Johnson recently announced plans, including a tax reduction for all homes under £500,000.</span></p> <p><span>“</span><span>Prohibitive stamp duty charges have long been a challenge for those on all rungs of the property ladder, and so both buyers and sellers will now be eagerly awaiting confirmation from him and his party on how he decides to address this,” Leeming said. But, he added, if Johnson were to decide only to switch …