In a speech in Stockton, he will declare Labour’s better plan is needed to tackle a modern housing crisis in which a severe shortage of new homes being built has priced millions of people out of the property market and left many who want to buy living in private rented accommodation. And he will condemn the Tories for presiding over the lowest rates of housebuilding since the 1920s, the lowest rate of home ownership for 30 years and a market where buy-to-let landlords and foreign investors are snapping up properties before local people get a chance. Mr Miliband will set out the key elements of Labour’s comprehensive plan to help working families get the decent homes they deserve:
Put first time buyers first:
- Help with your first home: Labour will reduce stamp duty to zero for first time buyers of homes worth up to £300,000 – a saving of as much as £5,000 for people seeking to get on the property ladder.
- First Call: Labour will give first time buyers that have lived in an area for more than three years “first call” on up to half of homes built in their area.
- Local First: Labour will stop foreign buyers buying up properties before local buyers get a look in by ensuring they are advertised in local areas, increasing taxes paid by foreign buyers and council tax for empty homes.
The biggest house building programme in a generation
Labour’s plan will start construction on 1 million new homes by 2020 to deliver our promise of getting 200,000 homes built a year, with “use or lose it” powers ensuring developers build on land rather than hoarding it via the right to levy council tax on sites which remains undeveloped, as well as plans for a series of new garden cities and wider reform of the housing market.
More affordable and social housing
Labour’s plan will build more affordable homes year-on-year by strengthening affordable housing obligations on developers which have been watered down by the Tories, prioritising capital investment and allowing Labour’s £5 billion Future Homes Fund to invest in housing associations developing affordable homes.
Action on rent
Labour will bring in secure three-year tenancies for those who want them and cap rents so they cannot rise by more than the rate of inflation during this period. We will also ban letting agent fees - saving the average household £625 over the next parliament – and introduce a national register of landlords so that a minority of rogue owners can be identified, with tax relief restricted for those who do not meet basic standards.
Mr Miliband will describe the modern housing crisis: "There’s nothing more British than the dream of home ownership, starting out in a place of your own. But for so many young people today that dream is fading with more people than ever renting when they want to buy, new properties being snapped up before local people get a look-in, young families wondering if this country will ever work for them. That is the condition of Britain today, a modern housing crisis which only a Labour government will tackle."
He will criticise the Tories’ record of inaction and failure: "The Tories have presided over the lowest level of housebuilding for almost one hundred years and the lowest rate of home ownership for a generation. No wonder people can’t get the start they need, working families deserve better. Britain can’t continue like this."
He will say Labour has a better plan: "Our plan is grounded in the idea that it is only when working people succeed that Britain succeeds. If we win the election in just a few days’ time, the next Labour government will make sure there are homes to buy and take action on rents. It is a better deal for housing, a better start for the next generation, a better plan, a better future for Britain."
He will say Labour will offer real help for first time buyers: "It is simply too expensive for so many young people to buy a home today, saving up for the deposit, paying the fees and having enough left over for the stamp duty. So we’re going to act so we can transform the opportunities for young working people in our country. For the first three years of the next Labour government, we will abolish stamp duty for all first time buyers of homes under £300,000."
He will herald the biggest house building programme for a generation: "We will start construction of one million homes over the next five years, so at least 200,000 homes a year are getting built by the end of the Parliament with a new generation of towns, garden cities and suburbs, unlocking land being hoarded by large developers, telling them either you use the land, or you lose the land.”
He will show how Labour will give priority on these homes for first time buyers: "We will make sure there is real priority for first-time buyers because it is no good people seeing houses going up in their community, if they are then not able to buy them because they are snapped up by investors from overseas. So with Labour, first time buyers who have lived in an area for more than three years will have first call on up to half of all the new homes built in their area. Because in the Britain we believe in houses should be lived in by families, not just set aside for speculators."
And he will promise action on rents: "We’re going to have fairness for those who rent their homes too with three year stable tenancies and a real cap on how much rents can rise in that time, set at no more than inflation. So that people can enjoy real security in the place they live."
