the conservatives will build 200,000 cut price homes to help first time buyers get a foot on the property ladder, david cameron will pledge today a scheme offering starter homes for sale at 20 per cent below the normal market price is to be doubled in size if the tories win the election the estimated discount on a typical £200,000 house would be a hefty £40,000 scroll down for video  levels of home ownership have plummeted to the lowest level in 30 years, according to latest figures  the scheme for 100,000 such homes was announced at the conservative party conference in september the prime minister now wants to build 200,000 over the next five years pledging to produce a britain ‘where everyone who works hard can have a home of their own’, mr cameron will say: ‘there is a particular kind of security that comes with having a home – and that’s what i want to talk about today too many people have been denied that security ‘the young people in their 20s and 30s, still living with their parents, desperately saving for their own place the couple who want a child but can’t afford to upsize – even though they both have full on, full time jobs it shouldn’t be this way’ david cameron will pledge to build 200,000 cut price homes to help first time buyers get a foot on the property ladder  the move comes amid concern over falling levels of home ownership and the prospect that future generations may never be able to afford a home of their own mr cameron is also considering a radical idea tabled by work and pensions secretary iain duncan smith to extend the right to buy to 25million tenants in housing association properties the tories’ starter homes initiative is due to begin today first time buyers aged under 40 are eligible to apply and can register their interest at wwwstarter homecouk the homes will be built by the private sector and several major developers such as barratt and taylor wimpey have signed up to take part anyone buying one will have to hang on to it for at least five years before selling it on the open market to prevent speculators using the scheme to make a windfall profit ministers are consulting on whether to extend the minimum resale period to 15 years labour last night attacked the tory housing plan after conservative party chairman grant shapps struggled to explain how it would be funded in an interview with sky news mr shapps initially suggested homebuyers would be offered government subsidised mortgages, before saying ministers would ‘get together’ with developers and landowners to finalise details shadow housing minister emma reynolds said the comments suggested the conservatives’ plans were not credible ‘the tories’ housing policies are in chaos,’ she said ‘grant shapps, a former housing minister, couldn’t even explain how the government would deliver a key election pledge’ but tory sources said there was a clear plan to keep prices down by allowing construction in areas where planning permission would not normally be granted for housing hundreds of acres of unwanted commercial and industrial land are to be turned over for the scheme, which mr cameron has said will help ‘unlock home ownership for a generation’ in some cases, developers will be allowed to build a small number of homes for sale on the open market to subsidise the cost of the new starter homes developers will also be spared infrastructure levies which add about £20,000 to the cost of a home on a normal development rules allowing homeowners to build conservatories without planning permission are to be extended  controversial rules that allow homeowners to build big conservatories and extensions without planning permission are to be extended for another five years, the tories said yesterday the regulations, which permit extensions of up to 26ft long without authorisation – provided no neighbours object – provoked a major row when they were first announced by the government in 2013 but tory sources said they would be retained until at least 2020 regulations which make it easier for former offices to be converted to homes would also be extended conservative party chairman grant shapps said that the move was designed to ensure ‘common sense on home extensions, so families aren’t crushed by expensive red tape’ councils will also be forced to help find plots for people seeking to build their own homes, as part of a scheme that ministers believe could produce up to 20,000 new homes a year ministers say they want to offer new starter homes in both towns and the countryside – and it is possible that some will be built in the green belt the price of homes available in the scheme will be capped at £250,000 outside london and £450,000 in the capital mr cameron will pledge that design standards will not be allowed to slip, saying that people will not be offered ‘rabbit hutches or shoe boxes, but decent, well built homes with gardens – places to start and raise a family’ but industry sources questioned whether the scheme could be delivered and pointed out that it has been doubled in size before a single home has been built one senior industry figure described the target for 200,000 cut price homes over five years as ‘very ambitious’ in the context of the 125,000 or so new houses started in total last year
david cameron tories
david cameron to announce housing policy in speech in today . tories will build 200,000 cut price homes to help first time buyers . councils to be forced to free up plots for people who want to build house . ministers claim it could lead to an extra 100,000 houses over five years . rules allowing for bigger extensions to be extended until 2020 