October 7th, 2015
The Prime Minister, David Cameron, is due to give his closing speech at the annual Conservative conference this morning, in which it is expected that he will confirm the government’s pledge to champion affordable housing for first time buyers as a key focus for his final five years as the leader of the UK.
As per the excerpts from today’s speech, Mr Cameron is keen to stress that he sees the need to improve the levels of affordable new homes available, to assist first time buyers onto the property ladder as a “national crusade”. On setting out his personal vision for what is now expected to be his last five years as Prime Minister, he wants to promote the notion that the Conservative government can make the 2010s a “turnaround decade”.
Mr Cameron appears to be determined to leave a positive mark in his last years as leader of the country, with the proposed scheme being seen as a step towards capturing the support of younger generations for long term support for the party. At present, the level of under 30’s and 40’s continuing to rent has risen consistently over the past 10 years, so it is no surprise to see that the scheme is due to target this demographic in particular.
During the speech, Mr Cameron will say that, “When a generation of hardworking men and women in their 20s and 30s are waking up each morning in their childhood bedrooms – that should be a wake-up call for us. We need a national crusade to get homes built. That means bank’s lending, government releasing land, and yes – planning being reformed.”
On the Conservative view for the goal for the next five years, he will add that, “I believe that we can make this era – these 2010s – a defining decade for our country. The turnaround decade. One which people will look back on and say: ‘That’s the time when the tide turned. When people no longer felt the current going against them, but working with them’. Because we know this: nothing is written. We’ve proved it in schools across our country. That the poorest children don’t have to get the worst results – they can get the best. Over the next five years we will show that the deep problems in our society – they are not inevitable.”
The initiative follows on from the ongoing Help to Buy schemes’, which the government introduced over 12 months ago to help stimulate the tide of buying activity for those would-be home owners struggling to raise a deposit. It is expected that the government will pledge to build 200,000 new homes, by 2020, with the values set at discounted prices for first time buyers to take advantage of.
The caveat will be that buyers are not able to sell the properties in the first couple of years of ownership, to prevent a quick profit being made. The move is also seen as an opportunity to re-structure the current rule that developers must set aside a small percentage of newly built homes for rent, as they would instead be building cheaper homes for sale.
Article By: Simon Butler, Senior Mortgage Consultant at Contractor Mortgages Made Easy
Media Contact: Ratchelle Deary, Public Relations Manager
Tel: 01489 555 080
Email: ratchelle.deary@contractormortgagesuk.com