Housing market is ‘turning around’, Lewis claims

Housing Minister Brandon Lewis has said the housing market is ‘turning around’ after a decade of decline.

New figures show that the amount of people owning their own home has remained static for the first time since 2003, with more than 14 million owner occupiers in the UK in 2015.

The English Housing Survey found that lending for first-time buyers is at its highest since 2007, with first-time buyer mortgages up 11 per cent year-on-year.

The survey also found that the number of properties failing to meet the government’s Decent Homes Standard is continuing to fall, down by 3.1 million on 2006.

Lewis said: “In 2010 there was a housing market where buyers couldn’t buy, builders couldn’t build and lenders couldn’t lend.

“Our efforts are turning that around with more than 270,000 families helped into homeownership through government-backed schemes since 2010, while the number of new homes is up 25 per cent over the last year.

“And we’ve set out the boldest ambition for housing in a generation, doubling the budget so we can help a million more people into homeownership, while delivering a bigger, and better private rental sector.”