Boris Johnson has pledged that first time buyers of homes will be given long-term fixed rate mortgages of up to 95 percent of the property value as he aims to turn 'generation rent into generation buy'.
Addressing the Conservative Party conference, the Prime Minister said that it was a 'disgraceful truth' that 'millions of people are forced to pay through the nose for a home they can't truly love'.
In his speech, Johnson acknowledged that home ownership among young people had plummeted, and promised to change the planning system to allow for what he claims is the biggest expansion of home ownership since the 1980s.
Advert
In an interview with The Telegraph ahead of his speech at the Tories' virtual conference, Johnson said that a 'huge' number of people were excluded from owning a home, and that he wanted to solve that problem with mortgage schemes that permit deposits of as little as five percent.
Johnson - whose party have been in charge of the country for a decade now - said: "I think a huge, huge number of people feel totally excluded from capitalism, from the idea of home ownership, which is so vital for our society.
"And we're going to fix that - Generation Buy is what we're going for."
He added: "We need mortgages that will help people really get on the housing ladder even if they have only a very small amount to pay by way of deposit, the 95 percent mortgages.
Advert
"I think it could be absolutely revolutionary, particularly for young people."
The Conservative government also withdrew the Help to Buy mortgage guarantee scheme at the end of 2016, which had allowed lenders the option to get a guarantee on a 95 percent mortgage.
That meant that if the buyer defaulted on the loan, the government would guarantee some of the cost, meaning that the lenders would be more encouraged to lend.
Advert
In response to the Prime Minister's speech, Labour Party deputy leader Angela Rayner said: "The British people needed to hear the prime minister set out how he and his government will get a grip of the crisis.
"Instead we got the usual bluster and no plan for the months ahead.
"We end this Conservative conference as we started it: with a shambolic testing system, millions of jobs at risk and an incompetent government that has lost control of this virus and is holding Britain back."
Featured Image Credit: PA