With a matter of weeks to go until the 2024 General Election , all the major political parties bar Reform UK have now released their manifestos – and it’s clear that housing remains an important issue. As mortgage rates remain high and rents across the country skyrocket, talk of housing policy has been high across the battlefront. At first glance, the Conservatives have pledged to help first-time buyers onto the ladder, Labour wants to build more homes including council housing, and the Liberal Democrats are looking to alleviate homelessness .
While policy on the cost of living remained the issue most likely to sway UK voters (45%), as per a YouGov poll conducted earlier this month, 10% said that housing policy would primarily inform their vote. With that in mind, here’s how the main parties at the election are approaching housing, and what each of the manifestos have pledged. After the Conservative Party manifesto was launched, there was a lot of chatter about their policies on housing – specifically, the return of an old one: Help To Buy.
The Help To Buy scheme was first introduced by former Tory Chancellor George Osborne in 2013, but was subsequently revoked in March 2023. Designed to help buyers struggling to get on the property ladder, the equity loan scheme involved government contributions. According to government data , between April 1, 2013 and May 31, 2023, 387,195 properties were bought with an equity loan – 328,346 of which were purchased by first-time b.
