Labour outlines housing market policy

The Labour Party has outlined three ways it will help first-time buyers onto the housing ladder as it ramps up its campaigning activity ahead of next month’s local election.

The political party may have been criticised for social media adverts attacking Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, but Labour is now also using Twitter to outline elements of its housing policy.

In a series of tweets sent yesterday, Labour said it would introduce a mortgage guarantee scheme and give first time buyers first dibs on new houses in their area, stop entire developments being sold to overseas investors and reform planning “to build more genuinely affordable homes for those looking to get on the housing ladder.”

The tweets were followed by another post that said: “The Tories crashed our economy, caused interest rates to surge and ruined the dreams of people looking to buy their first home. 
“Labour has a plan to tackle the cost of living crisis, grow our economy and help first time buyers get on the ladder.”

The post includes a stormy image with a caption stating that the Tory mortgage penalty has added almost £500 to monthly bills for first-time buyers, a reference to the mini-Budget that riled financial markets at the end of 2022.

There are no further details provided on how the first-time buyer pledges would be funded but Labour said it would freeze council tax through a ”proper windfall tax” on energy companies.

https://twitter.com/UKLabour/status/1645713460104253444