On the 2nd October 2020, the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson MP, said that the Conservative Government will explore new long-term, low-deposit mortgages in an attempt to create a new generation buy.
Too many people today feel excluded from the idea of home ownership – which we, as Conservatives, want to fix to ensure everyone has the opportunity to own their own home.
- That’s why the Prime Minister has announced we will work to create ‘Generation Buy’. We will explore options for new long-term fixed rate mortgages that only require a five per cent deposit, making it easier for young people in particular to realise their dream of owning their own home.
- As we build back better after the pandemic, we are determined to tackle the long-standing inequalities and unresolved challenges that too many previous governments have ducked.
The Government are doing this by:
- Working to introduce long-term mortgages with just five per cent deposits to help more people, especially the younger generation, realise the dream of owning their own home. Two million people in this country cannot currently afford a deposit, but would be able to meet mortgage payments. We will develop plans to encourage new mortgage products that can overcome these problems, while providing suitable consumer security.
- Introducing schemes like Help to Buy which have made home ownership a reality for more than half a million families. To date, more than 1.4 million people have used Help to Buy ISAs and more than 263,297 properties have been bought using the Help to Buy Equity Loan scheme. Most of the home purchases under the scheme were made by first time buyers, accounting for 214,064 (81%) of the total, and the total number of first-time buyers in the market is now at a twelve-year high.
- Cutting stamp duty for 95% of first-time buyers – saving people up to £5,000 on the purchase of their home. 464,700 families have benefited from First-Time Buyers’ Relief since it was introduced in 2017, saving a total of £1.1 billion. The temporary stamp duty cut announced by the Chancellor to stimulate the housing market will mean that nine out of ten people buying a home before 31 March 2020 will pay no stamp duty at all.
- Introducing new models of ownership and discounts for local people to help more families get on to the property ladder. Our reforms to shared ownership will make it easier for people to accumulate a stake in their home, rather than at 10% increments as previously required. Our First Homes Programme will provide 30% discounts to local families and key workers wanting to put down roots in their area.
In the Prime Minister's Conservative Party Conference Speech, Boris Johnson MP said:
"We will help turn generation rent into generation buy. We will fix the long-term problems of this country not by endlessly expanding the state, but by giving power back to people, the fundamental life-affiriming power of home ownership, the power to decide what colour to paint your own front door. With our long-term fixed rate mortgages we want to spread that opportunity to every part of the country, and that is the difference between us Conservatives and the Labour opoosition. They may have million pound homes in North London but they deeply dislike home ownership for anyone else. We want to level up. They want to level down."
