Member

I confess that I find it difficult to understand why, when younger generations already face huge barriers—much greater than their parents and grandparents faced— to home ownership, the answer proposed is to remove one of the few established routes into ownership that remains available for those on lower incomes. Whatever the challenges facing social housing, and there are many, the solution cannot be reducing the opportunity further. Where the noble Baroness may see a house leaving public ownership, we on these Benches see a family entering home ownership. We see social housing, and benefits in general, as a stepping stone. It should be there when you need it, but the aim should be to help you move on in your life and become financially secure and independent. It should not leave you in a lifetime of state dependency.