The Labour Party has seized on Rishi Sunak’s admission that it has become “harder” to own a home under his government, branding it “damning indictment” of his party’s time in power.
In an interview with the BBC, the prime minister said he wanted to make it “easier” for young people to get on the housing ladder and argued the “biggest challenge” was the difficulty in saving up for a deposit.
According to the Resolution Foundation, the most common living arrangement for those aged between 18 and 34 in 1997 was in a couple with children – but that has now changed to living with parents.
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Analysis by property firm Savills found the average house price across Britain of £340,837 could buy a large five-bedroom property in some parts of Scotland, Wales and northern England typically – but just a studio flat in central London.
Asked whether owning your own home had got “harder under a Conservative government”, Mr Sunak replied: “It has got harder and I want to make sure that it’s easier and what we will do is not just build homes in the right places and do that in a way that is sensitive to local communities, but make sure that we support young people into great jobs so they can save for that deposit.”
Put to him that young people were “not worried” about the deposit or stamp duty because they could not afford to leave their parents’ home, he replied: “No, actually when I speak to people it is the deposit that is the biggest challenge because many people earn enough to cover a mortgage payment, but the struggle is saving up for a deposit.
“That has always over the…
