PRESS RELEASE
May 14, 2007

Unaffordable housing to become Blair’s lasting legacy says Malcolm Moss MP

Research published today by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors shows house prices have raised significantly and the cost of becoming a home owner has escalated under Tony Blair.

House prices have risen by 170% under the Labour Government. The cost of becoming a home purchaser is more then three times as much as when Labour came to power.

A first time buyer couple will now have to save up to the equivalent of 75.9% of joint take home pay to build up the £30 973 needed for up front buying costs on a typical home, deposit and stamp duty. This means that it is three times as hard to access the housing market as it was in 1996 when only 25% of take home pay was needed to cover up front costs.

It is no good Blair boasting about low interest rates when a two person household on average incomes would now have to spend 25% of their take home pay to service their mortgage, up from the low point of 13.5% in 1996 under the Conservatives.

Malcolm Moss MP says:

“This Labour Government which committed itself to opportunity and fairness, has denied thousands the right to affordable homes. Ironically for a so called reforming Government it is more difficult now to enter the housing market then at any time since 1991.

“The Government needs to take more action to ensure that house building rises in line with demand, and it is not just houses to buy. The building of houses for rent has also fallen way behind the Government’s own targets. Why are we still waiting after 10 years for those Labour promises to promote an inclusive and sustainable society to be fulfilled, where the poorest are not priced out of the housing market – either to buy or rent?”