At Housing, Communities and Local Government Questions this week, I asked the Minister of State, Dominic Raab MP, whether he agreed with me that the ability to buy a home at an affordable price is vital to develop and enhance social mobility.
Since the Government announced a cut in stamp duty in the November budget more than 16,000 buyers have saved thousands of pounds on their first property. This is an important first step to creating a new generation of property owners but we also have to address the problem of supply.
On the issue of housing supply, I asked Dominic Raab MP about the need to speed up the process of planning and massively increase house building across the country to ensure that everyone who has the aspiration to own their own property is given the opportunity to do so. This is a priority for the Government and the newly re-focussed Department of Housing, Communities and Local Government has set the target of overseeing the construction of 300,000 new homes each year.