Robert
Jenrick, Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, speaking
today at the Conservative Party Conference, said:
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“I’m delighted to be in Manchester for my first
conference as Housing Secretary.
When I arrived, I saw a sign saying
that it is home to the world’s longest running soap opera. And I thought that,
they, too, know we need to get Brexit done by 31st of October.
I’m here today to tell you about my
mission. As the first millennial in Cabinet, I will address the challenge of my
generation: building the homes our country needs; and building the ownership
society our party has always stood for, from Coronation Street to every other
street across the country.
This is the city where my
grandparents bought their first home. £250 later, they had a piece of
Manchester that was theirs.
For we Conservatives, helping people
to own a home has always been at the heart of our moral mission.
And the property-owning democracy is
a perpetual goal for which our party strives to ensure that every generation
has the opportunity to benefit.
So while some people say we should
give up on homeownership, that’s not my way.
I believe in ownership as the
bulwark of individual freedom, bringing security, dignity and independence. So
I will redouble our efforts.
But according to Jeremy Corbyn,
homeownership is a “national obsession”.
As we stand here in Manchester, home
of United and City, don’t let Corbyn tell you that an obsession needs to be a
bad thing – however much the United half of the city might feel that right now.
While Corbyn obsesses about how he
can get rid of Tom Watson, let us, in the Conservative Party, instead obsess
about how to make people’s lives better.
Since 2010 we’ve delivered over 1.3
million new homes. Last year we delivered the highest number bar one year in my
adult lifetime: more years than some of
you may think!
And we’ve cut stamp duty for 95% of
first-time buyers. But we’ve got much more to do.
Firstly, we’re going to find more
routes to homeownership.
To overcome the barrier of raising
enough money for a deposit, I’ve already simplified the shared ownership
option.
Today I’m going further, working
with housing associations to give as many of their 2.6 million tenants as
possible the right to shared ownership of their home – starting with all new
properties.
Common sense to us. Alien to
Corbyn’s Labour.
We want people to own their own
home. Labour want people to rent for life from landlord Corbyn.
We want to provide a ladder. They
kick the ladder away after them.
Secondly, we’re reforming our
outdated, contradictory planning system, which is holding us back. It’s a
system that’s even more confused than Emily Thornberry trying to explain Labour’s
Brexit policy – and that’s saying something.
I want to follow in the footsteps of
Conservative reformers who have held my office and used it to get this country
building – from Harold MacMillan, Keith Joseph and Michael Heseltine to Eric
Pickles.
So I will simplify the system.
I’m announcing new freedoms,
including to build upward so that your home can grow as your family does too.
Reducing conditions, speeding up
consent. Better funded local planning in return for efficient service. The
beginning of a planning revolution.
Thirdly, no new home will be built
in the country from 2025 without low carbon heating and the highest levels of
energy efficiency.
We want better homes – and a better
planet to match.
And fourthly, these new homes must
be well-designed, safe, and rooted in places to which people can belong.
I am announcing the first national
design guide and asking every community to produce their own. Empowering people
to make sure that development works for them, in keeping with the local
heritage and vernacular, with each new street lined with trees.
So, under the Conservatives, more
environmentally-friendly homes, more beautiful homes, faster and simpler
planning, and a leg up on to the property ladder.
It was William Hague who said in his
last speech to conference that, “the mass extension of homeownership in the 80s
shows how the whole nation benefits from Conservative principles in action”.
He was right.
The Conservatives have led one
homeownership revolution in the ‘80s already.
Let’s do it again.
But as Margaret Thatcher once said, “there
are no final victories in politics”.
Even something as basic as private
property is now endangered.
Labour will tax you for moving house,
for helping your children get onto the property ladder.
They’ll even tax your garden.
No wonder Corbyn has an allotment!
We want to unite and level up all
parts of the country.
The British public voted to take
back control. And that doesn’t just mean Westminster regaining sovereignty from
the EU.
It means that cities, towns and
counties can become more self-governing and accountable to people.
So, with the first Prime Minster to
have been a mayor himself since Clement Attlee, we are ready to usher in a new
stage of decentralisation. Devolution has got its BoJo back.
We must put an end to dither, delay
and division.
A government led by Jeremy Corbyn
could never do that.
As Communities Secretary and the father
of three Jewish children, I know few feel this as strongly as British Jews.
A Labour Councillor in this city,
with its 250-year old Jewish community, is suspended for antisemitism.
Under Corbyn’s leadership, the
world’s oldest form of hatred is back in the mainstream.
We must never allow these people to
run our country.
I will do everything in my power to
fight prejudice and discrimination, in all its forms and against all religions.
Our party wins when we offer
leadership for the future.
Home ownership as an attainable goal,
not an unachievable aspiration.
Environmentally-friendly homes fit
for the next generation.
Levelling up our country, so that
talent and genius are never wasted.
Each community respected and
protected, but integrated and stronger together.
A Britain that is everything
Corbyn’s Labour Party is not.
More prosperous. More united. More
optimistic. Face turned to the future.”
ENDS
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