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Grant Shapps responds to the National Housing Federation's 'Housing Market Analysis' report

Grant Shapps responds to the National Housing Federation’s ‘Housing Market Analysis’ and talks about how Government is helping people to get…

This was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government

Grant Shapps responds to the National Housing Federation’s ‘Housing Market Analysis’ and talks about how Government is helping people to get on to the porperty ladder.

Housing Minister Grant Shapps said:

The trebling of house prices in the 10 years from 1997 has locked too many out of owning their own home. I want to see a period of house price stability so that more homes become affordable, but I am also determined that we also pull out all the stops to give hard working first-time buyers the help they need.

That’s why I’ve held summits with lenders to encourage them to do more to help people take their first step onto the housing ladder, and I’ve launched the FirstBuy scheme as a valuable alternative to the Bank of Mum and Dad for those struggling to get together that much-needed deposit.

But we also need to get Britain building again. That’s why I’ve announced plans to release thousands of acres of public land for housebuilding. And despite the need to tackle the deficit we inherited, this Government is putting £4.5 billion towards an Affordable Homes programme which is set to exceed our original expectations and deliver up to 170,000 new homes over the next four years.

Published 30 August 2011