Boris Johnson is attempting to resurrect Margaret Thatcher’s housing revolution today with a new package aimed at assisting low-income households in purchasing their own homes.
Mrs Thatcher’s ‘Right to Buy’ movement, which let millions of people buy council houses in the 1980s and 1990s, will be rekindled by the Prime Minister at a speech in the North West. Mr Johnson intends to expand the program to include renters of housing cooperatives.
He’s also devised strategies to assist families receiving Universal Credit get on the housing ladder. Allowing benefits to be considered as income when applying for a mortgage is one option, which would necessitate a legal reform but may allow millions more people to realize their dream of home ownership.
Last night, Whitehall sources would to comment on specifics, but one said that’something for hard workers on benefits’ will be included. People would be ‘incentivised to save for a deposit regardless of their financial status,’ according to another source.
‘Too many people are currently paying large sums of money in the private renting market when that money could be better invested in their future in the form of mortgage payments on their own property,’ the source continued.
The Prime Minister is expected to tout the benefits of a new generation of flatpack homes in speeding housebuilding.
However, proposals to make Right to Buy available to all 2.5 million tenants of housing associations appear to have been cut back due to the cost, which one source estimated could exceed £3 billion per year.
There is no additional financing for the new system. Instead, Michael Gove’s Housing Department has been instructed to use existing funding.
The Prime Minister’s speech today is being hailed as the first step towards a relaunch following Monday’s brutal confidence vote, which he won by a margin of 211 to 148.
He reiterated yesterday that “nothing and no one” will stand in his way as he attempts to refocus the Government’s energies on public objectives following months of political infighting.
The Prime Minister will say in his speech that the economy is facing “strong global headwinds,” but that the government has “the instruments we need to stay on top of rising prices.” ‘While it will not be easy or quick, you can be confident that things will improve, and that we will emerge from this a strong country with a flourishing economy,’ he adds.
In the coming weeks, the Prime Minister will promise to introduce more reforms to ‘assist consumers lower costs in every sector.’
‘We will utilize this opportunity to expedite the Government’s reforming mission, to reduce the expenses that the Government puts on businesses and individuals,’ he will add.
‘By making energy, childcare, transportation, and housing more accessible, we will safeguard households, enhance productivity, and, most importantly, boost the UK’s growth rate.’
Mrs Thatcher’s totemic policy, Right to Buy, gave nearly two million families the opportunity to buy their property at a discount of up to 70%.
Renters should be able to buy reduced housing association properties, according to David Cameron’s 2015 manifesto.
After that failed to materialize, Mr Johnson stated that additional pilots for the programme would be considered ahead of the general election in 2019. However, experts caution that granting tenants the opportunity to buy is significantly more complicated and costly than selling council homes in the 1980s.
Unlike council homes, most housing association dwellings are financed with private debt that must be repaid. One pilot scheme in the Midlands found that each home sold cost the government £65,390.
Pilot projects have also been run on the premise that for every property sold, a new one would be built. While the concept may assist overcome the original scheme’s criticisms, it also adds cost and complexity.
Last night, government sources declined to comment on how the new program would work.