Labour promises first time buyers will be a priority
Labour leader Ed Milliband has promised priority for first time buyers to buy newly built houses in their communities.
In the 2013 labour party conference Milliband promised to build 200,000 new homes a year by 2020. He asked Sir Michael Lyons to draw up a report, which would set out the changes to housing and planning policies and practice that are required to deliver the new homes. The report has now been unveiled and highlights; a land market that is not working due to insufficient land coming forward; a decline in housebuilding capacity and communities feeling that they have no influence in where new homes will go.
The Labour leader has claimed he will ensure that first time buyers from the local area will get priority access rights when these new homes go on sale. Local communities will also have more input in the building of houses in the areas that people want to live. He alleged that councils must plan for homebuilding in their area, and allocate sufficient land for development.
Ed Milliband said:
“There has been a systematic failure to build the homes our country needs. Too often the trickle of new developments that get completed are snapped up before people from the area can benefit, undermining support for much needed further development. And, for too many young families, the dream of home ownership is fading fast."
“We will also make sure that communities get the benefit from new home development by guaranteeing that where communities take the lead in bringing forward additional developments, a significant proportion of homes on those sites cannot be bought by anyone before first-time buyers from the area have been given the chance”
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