David Cameron Aims To Solve Housing Crisis in U.K.


David Cameron is a man on a mission: to solve the U.K.’s housing crisis with affordable, cut-price homes with plans of 200,000 new homes to be built by 2020.

Sounds simple, right? There’s just one problem, funding it.

The Financial Times reports that Grant Shapps, the Tory chairman, was unable to tell Sky’s Murnaghan television show how the scheme would be funded, despite being asked seven times.

With Labour hot on the heels of the Tory party in the upcoming election, Cameron and company are going to have to provide sound, explicit answers as to how exactly this scheme is going to be funded.

The U.K. has been experiencing a housing shortage for years, with new homes priced far above what the average young Britain can afford. Opportunistic landlords have also taken advantage of the crisis by charging incredibly high amounts for rental properties.

Dubbed “Generation Rent,” young Britians are more likely now than ever to be living with their parents well beyond their teenage years while trying to save enough money for a home.

The Conservatives have pledged that, if elected, they will provide 200,000 new homes to be built by 2020, and offered at 20 per cent off the new home value. The homes would be built on brownfield land, or land that was zoned for development but then no longer needed for commercial or industrial use.

David Cameron has stated emphatically that the homes are going to be of good quality, the kind where you can raise a family and even have a garden. The homes will also be reserved for those 40 and under, the age cited as being the hardest hit by the lack of affordable housing.

Newly built homes outside of London at £250,000 or lower will be eligible for the program, while homes in London will be eligible up to £450,000.

Home owners that purchase a home through the program agree to not sell the home for at least 5 years. If they do, then are required to repay the 20 per cent price cut afforded to them.

Per the Telegraph, dozens of home builders, including well known Barratt and Taylor Wimpey, have indicated their support for the program, along with a number of local authorities.

The proposed means of funding the project in part is by waiving local authority fees for homebuilders of at least £45,000 per dwelling. On 200,000 homes, the loss of revenue could reach as high as £8bn from income if current regulatory obligations had been retained on the homes.

Where the lost revenue will be made up remains to be seen, or be spoken of by David Cameron himself or any other member of the Tory party.

Cameron has also made headlines earlier this year when a member of the Conservative Party, Sir Malcolm Rifkind, was officially suspended under allegations that he participated in a “cash-for-access” scandal, as reported by The Inquisitr.

[Image courtesy of Link2Portal]

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