Lisa Nandy MP: ​Our plan to ease the mortgage crisis

This is a worrying time for many people – for people remortgaging now and people remortgaging down the track and for those who hope to own their own home and enjoy the financial and emotional stability this can bring.

One in three Britons who own their home with a mortgage say they currently find it difficult to afford their mortgage payments, and nearly half of those with a mortgage think it will be hard to afford their payments next year.

Around 10,000 families across Wigan are being hit hard by a Tory mortgage bombshell as homeowners face an annual mortgage payment increase of around £1,700.

With food and energy prices remaining so high, this is the last thing families need right now.

We’re in this mess because of the Tories’ disastrous approach to the economy, which has pushed up inflation and left Britain vulnerable to global shocks.

They crashed the economy as Liz Truss’ botched mini-budget last year sent borrowing costs spiralling and damaged our reputation on the global stage.

The Government has also created a housing crisis across the UK by failing to build enough homes and introducing planning reforms that will send housebuilding off a cliff.

Mortgage rates have been driven sky high putting home ownership out of reach for millions of first-time buyers.

The cost of private renting is also soaring with figures from the Office of National Statistics showing that rents across the UK increased by 5.1% over the past 12 months up to June, the biggest increase since records began.

Rents are predicted to rise even higher in the future with many landlords citing escalating mortgage costs as one of the main reasons for them considering further increases.

After much dithering and delay the Government finally agreed a “Mortgage Charter” with lenders in an attempt to provide support for borrowers. But the failure to make these measures mandatory means around one million households will miss out on the mortgage support they need. The Charter also excludes more than two million buy-to-let mortgages, putting renters at risk.

Labour would take a different approach. We would help borrowers immediately by introducing a mandatory mortgage support package which would cover everyone. We’d instruct the regulator to require all lenders to allow borrowers to switch to interest only mortgage payments for a temporary period or to lengthen the term of their mortgage period.

Over the longer term we will take action to fix the housing crisis by reforming our planning system to allow us to build more quality, affordable homes.

We would introduce a Private Renters Charter, to help renters feeling the crunch and make renting fairer, more affordable and more protected.

And we would get more people on the housing ladder with a comprehensive mortgage insurance scheme, following the example of other countries.

The Government need to get a grip of this issue, adopt Labour’s plan to ease the mortgage crisis they themselves have created and give households across the country the support they need.