Possible help for young home owners

Tuesday, 4 January 2005 12:00 AM

The Government is considering plans to offer subsidised loans to single people and young couples looking to enter the housing market.

Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott is backing housing strategy plans to offer mortgages to people on low incomes looking for a first step on to the housing ladder.

He is expected to unveil the plans - backed by the Treasury - later this month. They may include Government-backed loans at zero interest.

Under an initiative to boost home ownership and increase social mobility, houses could be purchased for just £60,000 on land bought by the Government in London and the south.

Mr Prescott told journalists: "We've got interest rates low, inflation low, why the hell [is the price of buying a house] going up when in other countries it only moves at the rate of inflation? It is unacceptable that prices have been going up at ten times the rate of inflation, more than that."

Mr Prescott has previously said: "We must provide more high quality affordable homes - or face the consequences of homelessness and social exclusion".

A spokesman for his office said the Government was assessing "a whole range different options" on home ownership.

The Government is said to be concerned at the growing number of families living in temporary accommodation, with the figure passing 100,000 for the first time, according to the Office of National Statistics.

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