David Cameron pledges on helping people to buy and tackling LGBT homelessness

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The Prime Minister has made pledges on helping young, first-time buyers to own their own home, as well as tackling LGBT homelessness.

Answering questions from PinkNews readers, the Prime Minister yesterday addressed questions on housing, and LGBT homelessness, saying his party planned to tackle both issues if a Tory government is elected on 7 May.

The Tory leader made the pledge in the a question from reader Saskya Monchar, who said: “A lower percentage of people in the UK now own their home than in France, and the problem is worsening with rising house prices. What would the panel do to help British citizens to be able to own their own home?”

Mr Cameron responded: “This is a key part of our long-term economic plan – helping young people realise the dream of owning their own home, and enjoying the security and stability that comes with it.  We want to build a Britain where everyone who works hard can have a home of their own.  We’ve now got the highest level of house building since 2007, with more than 700,000 new homes – including over 217,000 affordable homes – built over the last five years.

“We announced in our manifesto a plan to build 200,000 more homes that young people can afford.  These new Starter Homes will be 20 per cent cheaper than the market price, and reserved exclusively for first-time buyers under the age of 40.”

He continued: “This is in addition to our successful Help to Buy scheme, which was aimed at giving people access to an affordable mortgage – it means you will only need a deposit of 5% as long as you can afford the mortgage repayments.  This scheme has already helped over 88,000 buyers own their own home, with over 80 per cent of sales going to first time buyers.   You can find details at https://www.helptobuy.org.uk/.  At the last Budget we also introduced the Help to Buy ISA to help you save that deposit – for every £200 you save, the Government will top that up with £50, so if you raise £12,000 for a deposit the Government will top this up with £3,000.

“We are also aware that many people in social houses love their homes, and dream of owning them for themselves – we will make this possible by offering substantial discounts to those tenants.  But we also need more social housing, that is why we are guaranteeing that for every home sold through this scheme another will be built.”7

Mr Cameron also responded to a question from another reader on LGBT homelessness, which said: “What would you do to protect and provide homes for LGBT homeless youth, who make up around 20% of all homeless youth in the UK?

He said: “First of all, the measures we’ve already taken – largely focussed on funding prevention services in local authorities – have had an effect, with overall homelessness now around half what it was under the last government.  But of course I recognise that young LGBT people can face special difficulties, and the reasons they might find themselves homeless need to be dealt with sensitively.

“So the second part of our approach has been to change the law to allow councils, working with voluntary groups and charities, to help single homeless people find a place to live in the private rented sector. We’ve given funding for this, and provided Crisis with £13 million to help homeless single people find stable accommodation, which has helped over 9,300 people since 2010.  It is important that we work with charities and voluntary organisations – like the Albert Kennedy Trust, which has a long record of expertise on this issue – and continue to improve how we deal with young people who no longer have the basic security of knowing they’ve a warm bed for the night or place of sanctuary and love.”

David Cameron was yesterday attacked by a Christian group who said his pledge to stamp down on “gay cure” therapies. 

Core Issues Trust said Jews and Christians would be persecuted in the UK, if the plans went ahead.

PinkNews election coverage is generously supported by KPMG.

David Cameron pledges on helping people to buy and tackling LGBT homelessness

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