With the average house in the UK costing nearly nine times the average income, people are struggling to get on the housing ladder and are looking for alternatives. Ethan Gwyn, a postman from Rhondda Cynon Taf, almost bought a house in 2023 but when interest rates rose under Liz Truss’ mini-budget, it became impossible. Mortgage payments now would be over half his income before bills and other expenses, which he said “won’t be living and would be hardly surviving”. He sees no hope despite having a large deposit and going without things his friends are enjoying such as holidays.
Gwyn said parties need to do more to help support people like him. He contacted Your Voice, Your Vote and said he is hoping for drastic measures like the post-World War Two national home building scheme where over a million homes were built to address the problem. Carys Davies, who owns Perfect Pads based in Swansea, said rental demand and prices have “skyrocketed” post-Covid and that is making it harder for people to give a deposit. Landlords needed to keep up with interest rates and their rising costs too.
The Conservatives promise to expand help-to-buy to cover homes in need of renovation, turning the 20,000 empty properties in Wales back into homes, as well as second homes. They’ll restore the right to buy for council homes and reinvest proceeds in new social housing. Labour said in the UK, it will build 300,000 homes a year, and accelerate development on brownfield sites. They’ll extend a government-backed guarantee scheme to help people buy with smaller deposits. In Wales, the Welsh Labour government has retained the Help to Buy Scheme, which was scrapped by the Tories in England, built 14,000 new homes, and supported shared ownership schemes.
Plaid Cymru said they’ll develop a plan to expand local housing across the UK, using public and private funding and work with communities to provide the correct mix of housing across Wales to see needs for healthcare, education and transport, as well as sufficient green space and local play facilities. The Liberal Democrats said they’ll build 380,000 new homes a year across the UK, including 150,000 social homes a year. They’ll pledge to build what they call new “garden cities” and will ban no-fault evictions for renters. The Green Party said they’ll build at least 12,000 new homes a year in Wales and introduce a community right to buy for local authorities so that older housing stock can be purchased and refurbished. Reform said they will increase funding for affordable housing offer tax incentives for developers to build affordable housing and for first-time buyers to reduce the financial burden of purchasing a home. They’ll invest in infrastructure projects that boost regional economies and simplify and streamline national planning regulations. They’ll also prevent speculative practices that drive up prices
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