Oral Answers to Questions

Rosie Duffield Excerpts

Monday 8th April 2019 Commons Chamber

[Mrs Wheeler]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for that innovative idea. We have already agreed some money for ports down on the south coast, where there is a predominance of naval people, who have come together to build a number of units as one group. I think this idea has legs—if not sea legs, then Army legs.

[Rosie Duffield (Canterbury) (Lab)]

22. What assessment he has made of trends in the level of home ownership among under-45-year-olds since 2010.

[The Minister for Housing (Kit Malthouse)]

The proportion of under-45-year-olds owning their own home was 50% in 2010-11. That fell to 42% in 2016-17, in the aftermath of the crash, but happily it has since risen to 45% in 2017-18. Supported by Government schemes including Help to Buy and right to buy, the number of first-time buyers rose to more than 370,000 in 2018, an 86% increase since 2010.

[Rosie Duffield]

Many of my constituents are simply priced out of the housing market. Rental properties and mortgages are out of reach to all but the wealthiest, meaning that families who have lived for generations in villages such as Bridge, Chartham and Sturry, where their parents and grandparents grew up, are now simply unable to afford a property. Will the Minister acknowledge that we urgently need realistically priced affordable homes for the next generation, especially in rural areas?

[Kit Malthouse]

Yes.