The Mayor’s plans for housing are too narrowly focused on renters, and the Mayor should be helping the squeezed middle onto the housing ladder with shared ownership, says Andrew Boff.
Shared ownership allows aspiring home owners to purchase a share in a home and pay a reduced rent on the remaining part. This allows people on lower incomes with very small deposits to climb the housing ladder.
A new report, A Problem Shared: Boosting the Supply of Shared Ownership Housing in London, by Andrew Boff asks for a new shared housing target of 10,000 homes a year.
Andrew Boff, GLA Conservatives Housing Spokesperson, said:
“With the focus of the Mayor’s housing strategy now on his vague London Living Rent, it leaves little for Londoners who are thinking bigger.
“There is a chance you could get lucky and snatch up one of the handful of affordable homes, but the Mayor’s strict building policy will make those harder and harder to find.
“We have to think of new ways get generation rent onto the housing ladder, and Shared Ownership is a proven start. Shared ownership allows people to flexibly invest what they have in housing, and use the savings over time to climb further up the ladder.
“Sadiq wants to be the Renter’s Mayor and is too scared to tarnish his everyman image with the concept of home ownership, this is a massive oversight and aspiring Londoners deserve better.”
The report also proposes a new Right to Shared Ownership program that could help affordable housing tenants avoid being priced out of purchasing their homes. This could get even more Londoners out of a lifetime of renting.
Click here to download the report
Or to save it right click 'save as' on this link www.glaconservatives.co.uk/aps/
Notes to editors
Chris Hewett
Senior press officer
Gordon Cameron
Press officer