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Lib Dems unveil housing proposals Lib Dems unveil housing proposals
(about 3 hours later)
The Liberal Democrats have unveiled plans to boost the number of low cost homes and reduce repossessions.The Liberal Democrats have unveiled plans to boost the number of low cost homes and reduce repossessions.
They say government efforts to do so have had little effect and suspending stamp duty on homes worth below £175,000 was a "waste of money".
They say more empty properties need to be used and firms with empty commercial properties should get incentives to let them out as temporary homes.They say more empty properties need to be used and firms with empty commercial properties should get incentives to let them out as temporary homes.
Housing spokeswoman Sarah Teather said millions of families had been let down by "Labour's housing failures". Ministers have announced measures to help people avoid repossession.
Last week the Tories announced plans to boost the number of empty properties being used for social housing. These have included improved state support for mortgage interest payments and the Homeowner Mortgage Support Scheme, a plan to allow some homeowners who have been made redundant to defer mortgage interest payments for up to two years.
But the Lib Dems say only a small portion of those at risk of repossession will be covered by such schemes and there should be new rules forcing courts to make repossession a last resort.
Launching their plans earlier, the Lib Dems said they would also introduce a "repair and renewal loan scheme" for people who own empty properties which they are prepared to lease for five years to housing associations.
Fixed mortgages
The party said the scheme would cost £400m over two years and would be paid for by scrapping Homebuy Direct, a scheme set up by the government to help first-time buyers on to the housing ladder.
That would also allow commercial properties being used for housing, to claim commercial property rate relief - also funded by scrapping Homebuy Direct.
The party believes young people - rather than families - would be prepared to live in empty commercial property for short periods of time at low rents.
In the future, people must have access to low risk, simple mortgages which ensure that people who have sensible deposits are protected from negative equity Vince CableTreasury spokesman
The Lib Dems also propose to introduce "safe start" mortgages, which would offer first time buyers 85% of the value of buying a property at a fixed rate for the first five years.
The party's Treasury spokesman Vince Cable said: "With only a small portion of the 75,000 houses that are predicted to be repossessed in 2009 covered by the government's scheme, there is a real danger that we will see thousands of people kicked out of their homes over the next 12 months.
"It is critical not only for those who may lose their homes but also for the wider economy, that we have a comprehensive plan to ensure that repossession is only ever a last resort.
"In the future, people must have access to low risk, simple mortgages which ensure that people who have sensible deposits are protected from negative equity."
The Conservatives say that with an estimated 4.5 million people on housing waiting lists "needlessly restrictive" rules should be relaxed to allow more unoccupied properties to be used.
They argue the government's attempts to buy up homes from developers have not made much impact and more needs to be done to bring thousands of existing empty homes into use.
The government says it has spent £19bn since 1997 on modernising social housing stock.