"Government must prioritise investment in housing" - Farron

Speaking today in the Commons, Tim Farron MP pressed the Chancellor to draw in more public and private investment into housing, saying "Given that we need 3 million homes over the next 10 years, and that even in the height of Blair's boom years, the private sector failed to deliver more than around 180,000 homes in a year, will the Right Honourable member agree that we need to do much more to draw in public and private investment in housing to tackle the housing crisis?"

Commenting, Tim said: "Government shouldn't sit back and let the private sector fail to deliver while house prices are rising through the roof. Liberal Democrats have been pushing to allow councils and housing associations to draw in more investment, both public and private, to tackle the housing crisis. Politicians at all levels must realise that a failure to build homes has priced the next generation out of the market - and that this will have devastating consequences for the education of their children, for job mobility and for the economic strength of the country as a whole. Investing in housing is not only a sensible economic decision, creating economic growth and jobs, it is also absolutely central to delivering a fairer society where you don't need to rely on your parents' help to be able afford a home."