Friday 6 December 2019

Campaign reply - Will you commit to ending the housing emergency?


Will you commit to ending the housing emergency?

Par blog – they only provide the  campaign email address,

A number of constituents have sent me an email regarding housing and homelessness. This important matter is never far from my mind and issues around housing often form part of my case work.


The Conservative party manifesto is now published and I am pleased with it. It recognises the further progress we need to see on this important issue whilst setting realistic and achievable goals:


Helping people buy and rent

The biggest problem that young people

face in getting on the housing ladder

is the deposit. There are more than

three million people, many of them

with good jobs and secure prospects,

who would have been homeowners

before the economic crisis in 2008

but have been locked out of the

mortgage market. We will encourage

a new market in long-term fixed rate

mortgages which slash the cost of

deposits, opening up a secure path to

home ownership for first-time buyers

in all parts of the United Kingdom.

We will offer more homes to local

families, enabling councils to use

developers’ contributions via the

planning process to discount homes

in perpetuity by a third for local people

who cannot otherwise afford to buy in

their area. Councils could use this to

prioritise key workers in their area, like

police, nurses and teachers.

We will maintain our commitment to

a Right to Buy for all council tenants.

We will also maintain the voluntary

Right to Buy scheme agreed with

housing associations. Following the

successful voluntary pilot scheme in

the Midlands, we will evaluate new pilot

areas in order to spread the dream of

home ownership to even more people.

And we have extended the Help to

Buy scheme from 2021 to 2023 and

will review new ways to support home

ownership following its completion.

We will reform shared ownership,

making it fairer and more transparent.

We will simplify shared ownership

products by setting a single standard

for all housing associations, thereby

ending the confusion and disparity

between different schemes.

We will continue with our reforms to

leasehold including implementing

our ban on the sale of new leasehold

homes, restricting ground rents to a

peppercorn, and providing necessary

mechanisms of redress for tenants.

We will bring in a Better Deal for

Renters, including abolishing ‘no

fault’ evictions and only requiring one

‘lifetime’ deposit which moves with the

tenant. This will create a fairer rental

market: if you’re a tenant, you will be

protected from revenge evictions

and rogue landlords, and if you’re one

of the many good landlords, we will

strengthen your rights of possession.



The housing issue is a major issue and one that is never far from my thoughts. I and the office help people with housing needs every week. It is a stark reminder of the issue – if any were needed.



The biggest factor is housing pressures has been significant changes in family demographics and it is proving a challenge to build our way out of it. Having said new house builds frees up existing properties.