Andrew Lewin

I could not agree more. My hon. Friend is my constituency neighbour, and it is fantastic to work together on this issue. On the economic choices—this is the central point—the current investment was only possible because of Labour Budgets in 2024 and 2025, and the one given at the Dispatch Box just a couple of weeks ago. The Liberal Democrats did not support those Budgets, and we have to focus on this issue. Economic choices underline every facet of this debate. I want to make a quick reference to the importance of Homes England. There has been a good debate today about land ownership, access to land and how it is not affordable. Homes England, empowered by the Government, is purchasing strategic sites so that we can build more social and affordable homes across the country. I am very fortunate that in Welwyn Garden City, one of the two fantastic towns that I represent, we have a success story from the latest round of AHP funding. The front page of this week’s Welwyn Hatfield Times says that 128 new homes will be delivered, including 90 for social rent and 38 for shared ownership. That is a step in the right direction, and has been made possible because of national Government investment and Homes England. I have an ambition to reshape the housing market. Today I have listened closely to colleagues who represent communities across the country, and I know that the market is broken in many parts of England. In my view, one of the reasons for this is that the private rented sector has doubled in size since the year 2000, which I do not think was a policy ambition of any political party. That has come about because we have failed to build the social housing that we need, and because we have not been able to get enough people on to the housing ladder so that they can have security of home ownership. The private rented sector has swollen, and I believe that our ambition should be to shrink it through the growth of social housing and of homes to buy. This Government are taking on both those challenges. Importantly, they are acting to protect private renters through the Renters’ Rights Act 2025, which includes a ban on no-fault evictions, greater security of tenure and an end to bidding wars between people who are desperate to have a roof over their heads—a landmark achievement. As I have said, we are also investing in social housing and looking to support people who aspire to get on the housing ladder. We have a mortgage guarantee scheme that has been under way for just over a year, and it gives people the opportunity to put down a deposit of less than 10% of the value of their home, with the Government providing support to the lender. We also have an exciting new scheme that was confirmed in the Budget, Your First Home, whereby the Government will step in so that, through an equity loan scheme, people can get on the housing ladder with a deposit of as little as 2.5%. That has the potential to be transformative for lots of people who are currently in the private rented sector and want a way out. By the way, if they are able to access a deposit, they will spend less money on a mortgage than they currently do on their rent. That is why this package is so important. Fixing the housing crisis is about big political and economic choices. I know the hon. Member for St Ives is absolutely sincere in wanting a better mix of housing for his community, but I believe that we need an ambitious national agenda to address this problem. Previous Governments have not lived up to the promise of acting on the housing crisis. There is still a lot of work to do, but I am very confident that with this Housing Minister, who has been sat around the Cabinet table since July, we are on track to make a real difference to people’s lives across the country.