Housing key to Govt's plans

15 May 2008

The Prime Minister Gordon Brown has put housing at the top of the agenda in the draft Queen's Speech, where the Government's plans for the coming year are outlined.

The main housing announcements were:

£200 million pounds to purchase unsold new homes and then rent them to social tenants, or make them available on a shared ownership basis.
£100 million pounds for shared equity schemes to allow more first-time buyers to purchase newly built homes on the open market.
an offer of shared equity housing, open to applications from all first-time buyers (subject to a household income limit).

Shelter chief executive Adam Sampson said:

'We welcome these measures, the Office of Fair Trading investigation into fly-by-night sale and leaseback schemes and the announcements last week to help those facing repossession.

'Unfortunately though, these measures are just a drop in the ocean in tackling Britain's endemic housing crisis.

There are still 1.6 million people on council house waiting lists, almost 80,000 households trapped in temporary accommodation, first time buyers struggling to get on the property ladder and thousands of hard working families threatened with repossession.'