-- Keir Starmer’s Labour Party plans to provide mortgage guarantees to first-time buyers in a bid to help young Britons get onto the housing ladder if it wins next month’s general election.Billionaire-Friendly Modi Humbled by Indians Who Make $4 a DayUnder Labour’s proposals, the state will act as a guarantor for prospective owners unable to save for a large deposit, making permanent an expiring government scheme offering 95% loan-to-value mortgages.
Britain’s housing market has endured a downturn over the past 18 months, as higher interest rates and a cost-of-living squeeze crushed affordability at a time when the government was phasing out its Help-to-Buy program. That’s led to builders scaling back development as Britons struggle to scrape together a deposit for a home.
With the general election four weeks away, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Conservative Party has sought to forge a dividing line with Labour over property taxes, promising on Wednesday to protect family homes from capital gains tax and increases in stamp duty, as well as ruling out increasing the number of council tax bands used to set local rates on properties of different market values.
Aneisha Beveridge, head of research at broker Hamptons International, says Labour has gained support from mortgage-holders, a set of voters Starmer’s party is keen to woo ahead of the election.