Labour’s shadow housing minister has vowed to end the “racket” of exploitativ private landlords in Scotland by building thousands of council houses. Lisa Nandy has also promised to introduce a government backed mortgage deposit scheme to help first time buyers onto the property ladder.
She told the Sunday Mail: “Under the Tories over the last 12 years housing policy has become a racket that insentivised people to buy up hundreds of properties and rent them out in poor condition to make a quick buck.
“At the same time there’s been a deliberate vandalism of the social housing stock which started under Margaret Thatcher, and now the current incarnation of the Conservative party has come back to finish the job. The cost of living crisis has meant that home ownership is now beyond the reach of many people because house prices have been pushed up so far.”
Nandy, MP for Wigan and Shadow Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, added: “We are determined to turn this around with a massive council house building programme and also a target of 70per cent home ownership. That is why we have announced plans for councils to be able to get hold of lands more cheaply by reforming compulsory purchase powers.
“We will basically change the rules so developers no longer have an incentive to buy up huge amounts of land and then sit on it until it’s in their interest to sell. On top of that under Labour the UK Government will then also act as a guarantor for mortgages.
“We will have state backed mortgages so people who rent can have their rental payments count towards affordability checks for mortgages. The state will step in so that people don’t have to find such hefty deposits in order to make the leap from the rental to home ownership.
“Our mantra would be council housing, council housing, council housing, and in fact I have been inspired by some of the work that the last Labour government did in Scotland around councils having much greater powers over land to promote more house building.
“So it is two pronged it’s about having more tangible housing that people can rent that’s run by councils, and at the same time it’s about helping them work towards owning their own home."
Nandy also vowed to show respect for the Scottish Government no matter which party is in power. She made the commitment after Nicola Sturgeon complained Liz Truss hadn’t picked up the phone to her since becoming Prime Minister.
She added: “We would show respect for those leaders whichever political party they come from because by doing so, you’re showing respect for the Scottish people. We very much hope that leader is Anas Sarwar relatively soon, but working across parties is very much something that we’ve been urging the government to do in every part of the UK including in England.
“However I also believe that in Scotland power is incredibly centralised at Holyrood, in the same way that Westminster and Whitehall try to hold onto power and micromanage rather than allow communities to drive change themselves.”
Nandy ran for the Labour leadership against Keir Starmer two years ago after entering parliament in 2010 in the wake of her party’s removal from power. She is now in line for a top cabinet position in a future Labour government with her party holding a massive 38 point lead in the polls.
She added: “We’ve got a government that has crashed the economy, it’s gambled people’s futures, their homes, their family finances, in pursuit of tax cuts for the very wealthy. Nearly two billion people who are about to come off fixed mortgages as rates are soaring as a direct result of the decisions that this government has made.
“Energy bills are going up, mortgage payments are going up, rent payments are going up, food prices are going up. The one thing that people in Scotland can no longer afford to Tory government. The only way to change that is to vote Labour.
“Imagine what this country could be if we had a Labour government in Westminster and Hollywood that we’re fighting directly for the interests of people in every part of our country based on a respectful relationship that values the contribution that all of us can make.
“That’s what’s on offer at the next election. That’s the choice. And we’re determined to go out and fight for every vote.
“We lost the trust of people in Scotland, but I believe that by putting health care, education, the future of children right at the centre of our agenda, we can show we are squarely in Scotland’s corner. I want people to trust us again so that we can build the country I’ve believed in all of my life.”
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