David Cameron in pledge to first-time UK buyers

British prime minister David Cameron has pledged to double the number of homes built for first-time buyers by the end of the next parliamentary term in a bid to tackle Britain’s housing shortage.

In a speech in Colchester, Essex, yesterday setting out the final part of his Conservative party’s six-point campaign platform for the May 7 general election, Cameron said 200,000 properties will be built by 2020 under his starter-homes plan. Prices of the homes, only available to first-time buyers under the age of 40, will be capped at £450,000 (€620,000) in London and £250,000 (€345,000) outside the capital. Reduced planning constraints will make it easier for developers to cut building costs, allowing the homes to be sold at a 20% discount.

“This policy will work not least because the property developers, the builders, the building industry are all coming out and saying they’ll deliver it,” Cameron said. “Here in Britain, we haven’t delivered enough homes for young people to buy.”