Lisa Nandy MP: Labour is the party of home ownership

Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng crashed the economy with their attempts to hand enormous, unfunded tax cuts to those who least need it.

The humiliating U-turn they were forced into on scrapping the higher rate of tax came too late – the damage had been done.

One of the most concerning outcomes of the Government’s kamikaze budget is the impact on homeowners who will now have a Tory-premium to pay on

their mortgages.

More than 40 per cent of available mortgages have been withdrawn from the market since the mini-budget and lenders are pricing in interest rates at over six per cent.

The market uncertainty unleashed by the Government and the conflicting messages put out since then will see working people likely to pay higher

mortgage rates for years to come.

Bank of England data shows that homeowners in Wigan and across the North West coming off two-year fixed term mortgages face eye-watering mortgage hikes of around £370 a month should interest rates be at six per cent with the increases even steeper across other parts of the country where

house prices are higher.

Homeowners in London could see average rises of just over £900.

The increase in repayments will offset any support being made available to help with energy bills for many households.

The Government’s refusal to back Labour’s plans for a windfall tax on oil and gas companies meant that taxpayers were already saddled with higher

additional borrowing than they would have been under a Labour government.

The Government’s chaotic approach in recent weeks has only added to the cost-of-living pain.

Young people in Wigan who have scrimped and saved for a deposit in the face of soaring rents and house prices have in the blink of an eye been thrown

under the bus due to the Government’s efforts to reward the rich.

The wider consequences could also be severe and far-reaching, desperately needed new developments may not get built, and pension funds bound

up in housing stock could be put at risk.

This was a crisis made in Downing Street but paid for by working people.

For the sake of homeowners across the country, the Prime Minister should choose saving people’s homes over saving face and immediately reverse her destructive budget.

Families in Wigan deserve so much better than this Tory-made crisis and there is a real alternative.

Last month Labour announced a plan to target a homeownership rate of 70 per cent and 1.5 million new homeowners.

We set out proposals to build more houses, raise stamp duty on foreign buyers to stop them buying whole developments and pricing out British households and give first-time buyers first dibs on newly built homes.

We are talking to lenders about both the current crisis and how we can improve homeownership rates going forward, including introducing a new mortgage guarantee for first-time buyers.

Our message is clear: Labour is now the party of homeownership.