Julian Sturdy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Sturdy on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the Starter Home scheme on the level of home ownership among people under 40 years of age.

Brandon Lewis

Over the last twenty years, the proportion of under 40 year olds who own their home has fallen by over a third from 61% to 38%, and the average house price to earnings ratio for successful first time buyers is now 4.3 compared to 2.7 in 1993.

The Government is determined to change this and ensure that more young people can afford to buy their own home. That’s why we are committed to building 200,000 starter homes to provide affordable homes for purchase with a minimum 20% discount for first-time buyers under the age of 40.

Starter homes are an important innovation to improve the level of home ownership in this age category.