Liberal Democrats set out plans to build a million new affordable homes by 2020

2.32.15pm BST (GMT +0100) Fri 15th Jun 2007

Bath's MP Don Foster has welcomed the publication of radical proposals by the Liberal Democrats to tackle the severe shortage of affordable and social housing.

Don said:

"There are over six thousand families on the housing waiting list in Bath and North East Somerset, yet fewer and fewer social rented homes are being built. The number nationally has halved since Labour came to power.

"Meanwhile house prices have soared, growing at almost four times the rate of earnings. Many local young people in Bath are being left stranded, unable to afford to get even a foot on the housing ladder.

"These new proposals from the Liberal Democrats respond to both these problems. They would deliver the UK's most ambitious home-building programme in over a quarter of a century. 100,000 new social, low cost and affordable houses every year for 10 years to benefit those in housing need.

"This is the housing revolution that people in Bath desperately need."

NOTES:

(1) Liberal Democrat proposals include:

• Building 100,000 new affordable, social and low cost homes each year

• Devolving and reforming the planning system to make decisions faster and more effective for all parties

• Introducing equity mortgages to ensure that affordable housing is built and maintained for the benefit of generations of buyers

• Building smaller social housing developments which are integrated with private housing

• Cutting VAT on housing renovations and repairs

(2) The proposals were announced by Liberal Democrat leader Menzies Campbell in a speech on June 14th and form part of the party's Poverty and Inequality policy paper, which will be published shortly and debated and voted on at the party conference in September.

(3) For further information on the Liberal Democrat proposals see www.libdems.org.uk