By James Simons-
The levelling up secretary has said that relaunching the right-to-buy scheme would also encourage more people to purchase their own property, but was criticized for previewing a “dangerous gimmick” and told to “stop wasting time on the failed policies of the past”.
Boris Johnson will formally unveil both measures at a speech in Blackpool on Thursday, as he seeks to move attention away from an embarrassing confidence vote result in which 41% of Tory MPs tried to oust him.
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Gove said that Johnson would let benefits claimants who receive housing benefit payments to “use that income in order to get on to the property ladder” in obtaining and sustaining mortgages.
The right-to-buy scheme, first launched by Margaret Thatcher, would also be extended following a pilot in the West Midlands, Gove confirmed. The policy was originally implemented under David Cameron, in 2015.
Mr Gove said a new bill making it easier to charge higher council tax on empty properties in England would “bring life back” to communities.
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He also said new powers to force landlords to rent out empty shops would regenerate urban areas.
But Labour said the legislation would not be enough to help struggling areas.
The new powers are in the government’s Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill, which started its journey through Parliament on Wednesday.
The government has said “levelling up” economic imbalances between regions is a priority, but has faced criticism that its plans are vague.
However, the cabinet minister told Sky News not everyone eligible would be able to use the scheme. He cautioned that “we will cap the number of people who will be able to benefit from this initially and then it will grow over time”.
Boris Johnson plans to give renters the chance to buy properties they let from housing associations at discounts of up to 70% , depending on how long they have lived in them.
Lisa Nandy, the shadow levelling up secretary said the government’s plans would “make the housing crisis worse” and had not been thought through. She told Sky News: “In principle, it’s a great idea to try to get more people the security of their own home, particularly people who find themselves in the benefits system.
“The problem is that, as always, the government has not thought through the detail. There’s no sign that any of the lenders are onboard with this. The government can say that it wants to open up mortgages to people on housing benefit, but unless the lenders agree to do it, it’s not going to happen.
“There are real practical problems as well: to qualify for universal credit, you’ve got to have savings of less than £16,000, which means that most people who the government are trying to reach with this announcement are not going to have anything near the amount that they need for a deposit on a home in order to qualify for that mortgage.”
Nandy added that Labour would “crack down on unfair leasehold charges” and take “more action to increase the supply of affordable homes”.
Polly Neate, chief executive of the homeless charity Shelter, said that extending right to buy would “put our rapidly shrinking supply of social homes at even greater risk” and that “if these plans progress we will remain stuck in the same destructive cycle of selling off and knocking down thousands more social homes than get built each year”.
Neate added: “The maths doesn’t add up: why try to sell off what little truly affordable housing is left – at great expense – when homelessness is rising and over a million households are stuck on the waiting list.
“The government needs to stop wasting time on the failed policies of the past and start building more of the secure social homes this country actually needs.”
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