Home Ownership: First-time Buyers

Debate between Baroness Taylor of Stevenage and Lord Forsyth of Drumlean

Monday 22nd June 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)]

We are already doing that. We made that announcement on Friday. From speaking to lenders, we know that many first-time buyers are not aware of all the innovative mortgage products that might help them, or that recent mortgage reforms may help them get on the housing ladder. I had a meeting with the Building Societies Association just a couple of weeks ago, and I met again with the round table that developed this road map last week. It is true that mortgage brokers can help potential homebuyers to find options that may be suitable for them. There are some fantastic new products coming forward. Anyone who read the Metro last week may have seen a wraparound from Lloyds saying it was introducing £5,000-deposit mortgages, back for the first time since 1996. So things are moving and changing, and the road map will help that even further.

[The Lord Speaker (Lord Forsyth of Drumlean)]

My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Campbell-Savours, is taking part remotely. I invite the noble Lord to speak.

[Lord Campbell-Savours (Lab) [V]]

My Lords, I return to my previous contributions on building housing on land acquired at agricultural prices, which is of particular benefit to young buyers. Can we look at developments in Hammarby in Sweden and Nijmegen in Holland, where there have been major housing developments in both locations on land acquired at reduced cost? All I ask is that we look at these precedents and consider whether, with a review of land title on housing sold on such land, we could similarly build in the United Kingdom and help young buyers.

Affordable Housing: Young People

Debate between Baroness Taylor of Stevenage and Lord Forsyth of Drumlean

Monday 8th June 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)]

I recognise the noble Baroness’s concerns, and I welcomed the opportunity to speak to her on this matter during the passage of the Planning and Infrastructure Act; I subsequently went to visit one of the schemes she had mentioned to me. The nationally described space standard sets minimum standards for internal floor space of new dwellings and is suitable for application across all tenures, but that standard is not mandatory, and it is at the discretion of local planning authorities to adopt it locally by reference to the standard in their local plan policies. As part of our consultation on updates to the National Planning Policy Framework, we have sought views on whether changes are needed to make sure that affordable fixed-term accommodation, such as stepping-stone accommodation, is better supported, with particular reference to space standards. We are in the process of analysing the responses to that and we will be confirming our response in due course.

[The Lord Speaker (Lord Forsyth of Drumlean)]

My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Campbell-Savours, is taking part remotely; I invite the noble Lord to speak.

[Lord Campbell-Savours (Lab) [V]]

My Lords, with land plots for housing often exceeding the cost of home construction, does that factor alone not act as a real disincentive to the development of housing for sale at realistic, affordable prices? Why do we not establish a study into the relationship between land pricing and housing development costs? The study could consider proposals for building on land acquired at agricultural prices and sold under new forms of housing registration and land title arrangements, but which, at the same time, with other measures, could protect investment in existing freehold.

Donations to Political Parties

Debate between Baroness Taylor of Stevenage and Lord Forsyth of Drumlean

Monday 1st June 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)]

The law applies to all those who donate to political parties, and it is right and proper that it does. As I said, I do not agree with my noble friend’s characterisation that all donations are potentially corrupt. However, where they are corrupt, it is important that the system can deal with that effectively and has proper sanctions to make sure that we deter those who would try to use their own personal money to corrupt our democracy.

[The Lord Speaker (Lord Forsyth of Drumlean)]

My apologies to the noble Baroness, Lady Bennett of Manor Castle. That does now conclude the Private Notice Question.

Social Housing

Debate between Baroness Taylor of Stevenage and Lord Forsyth of Drumlean

Thursday 19th June 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)]

I am grateful to my noble friend for her warm reception for the announcement made at the spending review, and to the many social housing bodies that have echoed her words. We will work with the sector at pace to design the programme. We have provided certainty that it will be for a full 10 years; our providers wanted that certainty, and we were pleased to give it. We have combined that with a 10-year rent settlement that will give social housing providers the support and certainty they need to build the social and affordable homes that are so desperately needed. It is important to note the decline in social home building: in the 1950s, when my town was built, we were building around 200,000 social homes a year, but in recent years, we have built fewer than 10,000. We have a lot of work to do, and we will get on with the job.

[Lord Forsyth of Drumlean (Con)]

My Lords, where are the plumbers, electricians and builders going to come from to build these houses? Do the Government have plans to increase the number of people in apprenticeships who are being trained for that purpose?

[Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)]

I am pleased to be able to tell the noble Lord that we have a £600 million package for construction skills. We set up the Construction Skills Mission Board under the very able chairmanship of Mark Reynolds from Mace; I worked with Mark and Mace on the regeneration of Stevenage, so I am sure that he will do a fantastic job on that. That will create an extra 60,000 construction worker posts by 2029. There will be 10 new technical excellence colleges. Skills bootcamps have been extended with £100 million of funding, including short-term training for new entrants and upskilling for returners. The Construction Industry Training Board has really stepped up here with funding from industry to fund over 40,000 industry placements and to double the size of the new entrant support scheme to support SMEs to recruit, engage and retain apprentices.

National Insurance: Employer Contributions

Debate between Baroness Taylor of Stevenage and Lord Forsyth of Drumlean

Thursday 9th January 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)]

The noble Earl raises a key point. We have looked very carefully at charities and the voluntary sector. Many arts organisations have charitable status and there has been significant support in the tax incentives for charities. In fact, charities receive a better tax incentive in this country than in most other European countries. I know that it is not ideal and, as I say, it is not a decision we wanted to take. Unfortunately, the financial situation left to us by the last Government meant that we had to take it.

[Lord Forsyth of Drumlean (Con)]

My Lords, in Monday’s debate on national insurance, a number of noble Lords raised the issue of special needs transport conducted by local authorities which is contracted out. In his response, the Minister said that £515 million—the figure the noble Baroness has just cited—had been set aside for local government. But that is for local government employees and will not provide support for the additional costs being incurred to provide special needs transport. This is an important area, so will the Minister perhaps look at this again?

[Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)]

I agree with the noble Lord that special needs transport has been a significant burden on local government in recent years, and with little help from the last Government. However, in the Budget, the Government announced £2 billion of new grant funding for local government in 2025-26. That includes the £515 million to which he referred to help with national insurance contributions. That £2 billion covers special educational needs home-to-school transport. I am not saying that will totally solve the problem. We have a spending review in the spring where I hope we will be able to look at that even further.