Richard Baum

The Government’s £100 million scheme to help first-time buyers has sold only 451 homes since it started in 2006, according to figures obtained from the Liberal Democrats.

In a housing policy paper to be debated at the Party’s Spring Conference this weekend, the Liberal Democrats will argue for the multi-million pound scheme to be replaced with Government-backed equity mortgages.

The paper Homes for All: Action to Tackle the Housing Crisis will set out how the Party would build an additional 1.3 million affordable homes to buy and rent over the next decade, whilst equity mortgages would ensure the homes remained affordable after their first resale.

Liberal Democrat research on Government schemes to help first-time buyers shows that between April 2006 and Oct 2007 there were just 451 completions through the First Time Buyers Initiative despite over £100m investment in the scheme.

This is really depressing news for many young people who find themselves nowhere near the first rung of the housing ladder.

The Government’s flagship home ownership schemes are woefully inadequate compared to the real affordability gap faced by first time buyers.

Building a handful of houses to gain headlines has not helped the thousands of people for whom a home of their own is further away than ever. The HomeBuy scheme has failed. We should be building far more homes for first-time buyers and ensuring they remain affordable for future generations.

In Prestwich the problem is as acute as elsewhere in the country. Houses in St Mary’s are too expensive for first time buyers, and planning laws and government planning policy are doing nothing to make it easier for young people to get onto the housing ladder locally.

Rick