Right to Buy - another uncosted, unfunded & unbelievable announcement from the Tories

Emma Reynolds, Labour’s Shadow Housing Minister, responding to the Tories’ announcement on Right to Buy for housing association tenants, said:

The Tories can’t stand up for working people. On their watch wages are down £1,600 and we’ve seen the longest fall in living standards since the 1870s. 

This is yet another uncosted, unfunded and unbelievable announcement from the Tories. 

Having exhausted the magic money tree, the Tories now want people to believe that they can magic up billions of pounds a year from selling off a few council homes. Last year that raised just over £100 million, while this policy costs £4.5 billion a year. 

Under David Cameron home ownership is at its lowest point for three decades – there are over 200,000 fewer home owners since 2010. 

Labour will help people own their own home, that’s why we support Right to Buy. But in the 21st Century that means building homes and not forgetting the vast majority of people that want to buy their own home but currently rent privately or live with their parents. 

Labour’s manifesto set out a better plan for all local first time buyers to get priority access to homes built. We will ensure Britain builds the homes working people need, getting at least 200,000 homes built a year by 2020, backed by a comprehensive plan - the first in a generation - and a £5 billion Future Homes Fund to support the building of homes for first time buyers.”

Emma Reynolds MP, Labour’s Shadow Housing Minister, responding to today’s statutory homelessness figures which show a rise in the number of families accepted as homeless, said:

“These figures show the scale of this Government’s failure to tackle the housing shortage which is central to the cost-of-living crisis. It is a tragedy that so close to Christmas thousands of families are without a home.

“David Cameron has broken his promises to tackle homelessness.  Rising housing costs and low pay have made it more and more difficult for people to stay in their family home and the Government’s failure to build the affordable homes we need and policies like the Bedroom Tax have made things worse.

“Labour is committed to raising living standards for all by building more homes, raising wages, getting a fairer deal for private renters and abolishing the unfair Bedroom Tax.”