Pendle MP backs Prime Minister's plan to get more people on to the property ladder

The Government has said it will work with communities across England to build the right homes in the right places, using publicly owned brownfield land, and supporting small self-build and custom build sites, including through reusing agricultural buildings.

First time buyers and key workers will be given priority access to these news homes, with the first comprehensive review in a decade also set to examine reforms to the mortgage market.

The review will consider how industry and government can better support prospective first-time buyers to save for the deposit they need and access low-cost, low-deposit mortgages – it will deliver recommendations in autumn 2022.

The Government has said it will also build on the strong legacy of Right to Buy, which has already helped nearly two million households own their own home, by extending Right to Buy to housing association tenants.

New incentives will also see giving those on welfare a new choice: to use their benefit towards their first new mortgage instead of simply on rent.

Mr Stephenson said: “Home ownership provides people with security in the most challenging of times, but declining home ownership rates means we must do more to help people onto the property ladder.

“That is why I welcome the Prime Minister’s commitment today to reversing declining ownership rates and unlocking the opportunity of home ownership, putting more people in the position to buy and ensuring people are incentivised to save for a deposit no matter their financial situation – including housing association tenants, which I’ve long been pushing for.

“These measures sit alongside reforms to help people cut costs in every area of household expenditure, from food to energy to childcare to transport and housing, as this Conservative Government tackles the cost of living in every possible area.”

Between 2005 and 2016, the proportion of 25 to 34-year-olds who owned their own home fell by 20%.

However, Lisa Nandy, Labour’s shadow communities secretary, accused the government of repackaging a plan from 2015.

She added: “Millions of families in the private rented sector with low savings and facing sky high-costs and rising bills, need far more ambitious plans to help them buy their own home.”