Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell’s housing pledge CON - it will ‘CRASH the economy’
THE Conservatives today stepped up their warnings that a Jeremy Corbyn government would "crash the economy" as he unveiled a series of housing pledges they said would cost billions.
The Labour leader promised "a new era in council house-building" and help for first-time buyers including 100,000 discounted homes and a two-year stamp duty holiday.
Labour would also cap private rents as part of its housing “new deal”.
Conservative Andrew Percy, the minister in charge of the Northern Powerhouse development drive, said: "This is just another unfunded promise Jeremy Corbyn can't deliver.
"Last time Labour crashed the economy, house-building fell to its lowest peacetime level since the 1920s - and with Jeremy Corbyn in charge of the Brexit negotiations and John McDonnell in charge of the economy you'd see the same all over again.
"We have got Britain building again so more people can have good housing, delivering 190,000 extra homes in 2015-16.
"If we vote Conservative and keep Theresa May as Prime Minister we will keep our economy strong, deliver a new generation of social housing, and keep on building more homes."
Labour suggests Land Value Tax can fix housing crisis
Mr Corbyn condemned seven years of Tory "failure" on homes and pledged: "A Labour government will start on fixing the housing crisis immediately.
This is just another unfunded promise Jeremy Corbyn can't deliver
"High prices, excessive rents and the chronic lack of affordable housing are ruining the lives of young people, families and aspiring homeowners.
"As part of our massive house-building commitment, Labour will ensure 100,000 FirstBuy Homes are available at discounted rates to local first time buyers.
"This will transform the housing market and put the needs of younger house buyers and local workers first.
"And Labour will usher in a new era in council house-building to build more council homes than at any time for over 30 years so that the broken market is fixed to provide homes for the many, not investment opportunities for a wealthy few."
As well as the discount homes and stamp duty break, first-time buyers would benefit from extending and targeting the Government's Help to Buy scheme solely at them.
Labour also promises to get at least 100,000 council and housing association homes a year built by 2022 for affordable rent or sale.
Private renters would get three-year tenancies as the norm, minimum quality standards and rent rises pegged to inflation.
The Tories said Labour offered no explanation for how it would pay for the promises.
When former Labour leader Ed Miliband proposed a two-year stamp duty holiday for first-time buyers in 2015, he costed it at £225million.
A 20 per cent discount for 100,000 first time buyers would cost £4.2billion, based on average purchase prices, the Tories calculated, while extending the Help to Buy Equity Loan Scheme would cost nearly £1.8billion a year.
The Conservatives say that only they can be trusted to protect the economy so that Britain can afford the homes it needs.
They say they are on course to meet their commitment of a million new homes by 2020, plus 500,000 more by 2022, and also their pledges to get hundreds of thousands of affordable homes built.
They plan if they win the election to support councils and housing associations to build new homes to rent - and say that three times as many council houses as so far been built under them since 2010 than in the entire 13 years of the last Labour government.
Over 362,000 households have been able to purchase a property through Government schemes like Help and Right to Buy since 2010, and the 189,650 extra homes built in England last year was 11 per cent more than the previous year, they added.