LABOUR accused the government last night of throwing first time buyers “under the bus” by refusing to abandon their mini-Budget.
Repayments for first time buyers with a two year fixed rate has soared by £580 per month since last year, research by the party reveals.
Mortgage rates have already climbed in the aftermath of Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng’s financial statement, with fears the Bank of England’s base rate may peak at 6 per cent next year.
Some lenders have already hiked up their rates above six per cent with specialist lenders for the self-employed raising their deals to seven per cent or more.
Rents also went up by 12 per cent in the 12 months to August – increasing by £115 a month to £1,051 – with growing fears they may have to carry on renting for longer and demand pushed up.
The party has also announced plans for making renting safe, secure and affordable, and pledged building more council homes.
Shadow Levelling Up Secretary Lisa Nandy said: “The Government must work with lenders to avoid a housing catastrophe.
“Labour has a comprehensive plan for housing: support for first-time buyers; a plan to build a new generation of genuinely affordable social housing; and a new Renters’ Charter to make renting fairer, more secure and more affordable.”
A government spokesperson said: “We’re supporting people with rising living costs – our Energy Price Guarantee will save households around £1,000 a year, on top of £1200 payments to the most vulnerable families.
“We’re helping more people get on the property ladder by cutting stamp duty, delivering the homes we need and we’re ensuring a fair deal for renters.”
Away from housing, Labour also declared yesterday that major defence projects will face a ‘NATO test’ under a Starmer government, to ensure the UK meets its obligations to the organisation.
Shadow Defence Secretary John Healey has pledged the checks will take place in its first hundreds days of taking office.
He outlined the party’s plans during a speech to defence and foreign policy experts during a visit to Washington DC today.
The tests will include whether projects contribute to NATO’s real-world defences along with reviewing funding gaps and capability gaps.
Mr Healey said: “This government’s broken military procurement system has wasted taxpayers’ money and risks leaving our Armed Forces without the equipment and troops they need to fight and to fulfil our NATO obligations.
“Our ‘NATO test’ will be the foundation for Labour government action to ensure Britain meets our obligations to the Alliance in full as the cornerstone of our collective security
“Labour will make the UK a leading voice in Europe on collective security and defence. This is our unshakeable commitment to NATO in action.”
