Doubling tax on empty homes won't be a "gamechanger" for housing availability in Suffolk, according to a mortgage boss.

The government debuted plans to apply a 100% premium on council tax for empty homes as part of the Queen's Speech.

Richard Norrington, chief executive of Suffolk Building Society, said: "I don't think you're going to see a sort of stampede of people wanting to sell – but there will be some.

"And of course, that will slightly increase the market and therefore potentially slightly adjust the pricing overall.

"My opinion, would that be there is so much pent up demand, that this will probably just get soaked up by the market that's already there. So I don't think it's a gamechanger."

Mr Norrington added that he welcomed government plans to reform property leaseholds and to turn town centre units into housing.