• What We Stand For
  • Your Community
    • Housing

Housing

Because of the credit crunch, it is almost impossible to get on the housing ladder, and millions who do own their own home are facing repossession.  Rents are sky high and you have to wait years on a council list to get any help from them. Things are even more difficult for older people who struggle to pay huge fuel bills and keep their homes warm.

Liberal Democrats believe house prices shouldn’t be allowed to spiral out of control because it stops young people from getting onto the housing ladder and puts millions of family homes at risk. And we believe there should be good, simple, cheap homes to rent for people who can’t afford to buy so no-one’s left without somewhere decent to live. Everyone has a right to live in a warm home without heat and lighting and bills costing the earth.  

We will make sure that repossessions are an absolute last resort so that the banks that got us into this mess, can’t just take your home away.  We will build tens of thousands of affordable houses to rent so that no one is left without a home. We’ll create a new system of “Safe Start” mortgages that protect buyers from negative equity. And we’ll make the UK’s homes both warmer and more energy efficient, saving both the planet and the money in people’s pockets.

We understand that local people best understand housing need in their area. The Labour Government has taken local decisions on matters such as house-building and eco-towns away from local people and given power to faceless bureaucrats in Westminster. We will scrap the 'Westminster knows best' regional house-building targets by allowing local authorities to determine how many and what type of homes are needed in their area.