‘A huge number of people feel excluded from home ownership. We’re going to fix that’
Prime Minister tells Gordon Rayner of plan for low deposits as part of ‘massive domestic agenda’
Boris Johnson has promised to create “Generation Buy” with low-deposit mortgages that will get young people on to the housing ladder.
The Prime Minister said he would “fix” the problem of unaffordable deposits that has caused millions to put the dream of home ownership on hold.
As the Conservative Party Conference gets under way today, Mr Johnson told The Daily Telegraph he was determined to press ahead with a “massive domestic agenda” and deliver on manifesto promises despite the setback of coronavirus.
He also insisted he remained a low-tax, libertarian Conservative who would pay for the cost of the pandemic through a “free market-led recovery” and dismissed talk of rivalry between him and Rishi Sunak as “untrue”.
In a wide-ranging interview, Mr Johnson also addressed criticism of his harsh Covid restrictions, discussed the chances of a Brexit deal and revealed how he gets baby Wilfred to sleep.
Speaking in his Downing St office, Mr Johnson outlined his plans for a successor to Margaret Thatcher’s Right to Buy policy as he explained how he would solve the problem of “Generation Rent”.
He said: “A huge number of people feel totally excluded from capitalism, from the idea of home ownership, which is so vital for our society. And we’re going to fix that – Generation Buy is what we’re going for.”
More than two million people who are comfortably able to afford mortgage repayments are locked out of the market because they cannot save up deposits which typically run to 15 or 20 per cent of a property’s value.
Mr Johnson has asked ministers to work up plans to encourage long-term fixed-rate mortgages with five per cent deposits. They are likely to involve reversing regulatory changes made in the wake of the crash that required banks to stress-test applicants.
By removing stress-tests, banks would be able to offer 95 per cent loans, as was the norm 15 years ago.
It is understood the Government could also accept some of the risk through a form of state guarantee to give lenders additional confidence.
He said: “We need mortgages that will help people get on the housing ladder even if they have only a small amount to pay by way of deposit. It could be absolutely revolutionary, particularly for young people.”
A low-tax Conservative
The cost of coronavirus – £317 billion and counting – and the Chancellor’s warnings that “difficult decisions” will have to be made about how it is paid for, have led to questions over the Government’s commitment to a low-tax economy, one of the very foundation stones of Conservatism.
Asked whether he was still a “libertarian, low-tax conservative”, Mr Johnson replied: “Yes, totally! There will be lots of people at the conclusion of this who will say that we’ve got to keep the state taking and spending 45 or 50 per cent of GDP, who will say that we’ve got to keep the state paying people’s wages... wanting the furlough scheme to be extended indefinitely.
“Lots of people will draw entirely the wrong conclusions from this and it will be this Government that will be laying the foundations for a strong, dynamic, free market-led economic recovery, that’s what this country needs and I’m absolutely sure that’s what this country is going to see.”
Rishi Sunak is not the enemy
The Chancellor’s divergence from No 10 in his coronavirus messaging – telling the country it was time to “live without fear” while Mr Johnson was imposing more restrictions – has triggered widespread reports of growing tensions between the Downing Street neighbours.
Speaking for the first time about the rumours, Mr Johnson dismissed the idea that Mr Sunak was now his rival, saying such reports were: “Genuinely untrue. We are as one, ad idem, I think it’s pretty fair to say there’s a one-team approach between No 10 and No 11.”
Moral imperative to save life
Mr Johnson is acutely aware that his Covid strategy of lockdowns, pub closures, social barriers and working from home is not universally popular.
“I totally understand that,” he said. “We have to face the reality that this is still a lethal virus. I sympathise with people who chafe at the restrictions, I think everybody is fed up, I just urge people to be a little bit patient, we will get through it and we will save a load of lives and that’s really the best I can say.
“I think there is a moral imperative to save life where you can.
“It’s been a very bumpy period but if you ask me, am I optimistic about this country’s ability to come back and this country’s natural resilience, my confidence is boundless, absolutely boundless. We’re seeing some signs of real economic robustness in some of the data but it will take time. This has been a once-in-a-century event.”
A chink of light on curfews?
Few coronavirus measures have baffled the public as much as the 10pm curfew for pubs and restaurants.
Mr Johnson said: “I understand why Telegraph readers, whom I venerate, think this is arbitrary.
“You do have to restrict transmission and transmission clearly takes place within households but also in pubs, bars and restaurants and logically restricting the hours of hospitality, regrettable though it is, much as I don’t want to do it, we believe can help reduce transmission.
“But all of this is being kept under constant review, if we make progress all of these measures are capable of being changed.”
Brexit trade deal optimism
Mr Johnson will hold urgent talks today with Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, amid fevered speculation that a Brexit trade deal might be close. The Prime Minister said the chances of a deal “are very good if everybody just exercises some common sense and looks at the deal that is there to be done”.
“The UK has always been very clear what we want, we want a Canada-style relationship, we have been members for 45 years, I don’t see why they can’t have the same deal with us, so I’m pretty optimistic,” he said.
Asked whether we could become mired in years of negotiations about getting a trade deal, he replied: “Brexit will be done under all circumstances because the alternatives are really between Canada and Australia.”
Unable to resist slipping into his best Crocodile Dundee accent, Mr Johnson added: “Australia holds no terrors for us mate, we say good on yer, no worries, no wukkas.”
Channel migrants
While reports of wave machines and fences in the Channel may have been wide of the mark, Mr Johnson said he was looking at “all sorts” of ways to stop the “evil trade” in migrants. But he expressed frustration at the refusal of Emmanuel Macron, the French president, to play his part, saying: “Clearly we need to work with our French friends to prevent them from attempting the crossing at all.
“One of the difficulties is that once they get into UK waters, once they begin the crossing at all, we’ve had a problem which is that since the middle of July our friends have been reluctant to receive them back.”
Connecting the Union
Ten months since he won the general election with an 80-seat majority, Mr Johnson is determined to use the Tories’ four-day virtual conference to kick-start manifesto plans that were put on hold because of the coronavirus.
Last night, Mr Johnson published a list of the long-promised 40 new NHS hospitals that will be built by 2030, part of the “unite and level up agenda” that will be refreshed and re-promoted at the conference.
“This is a big moment for us, the moment to address some things that the country has needed to fix for generations,” he said.
Mr Johnson hired Sir Peter Hendy, the chairman of Network Rail, to conduct a Union Connectivity Review of the “musculoskeletal strength of our country’s infrastructure”.
Some road and rail projects have “fallen between the cracks” of devolution, particularly where they cross borders, and Mr Johnson has pledged to widen roads including the A1 north of Newcastle, the A77, A75, A55 and the M4 in Wales.
“We will look at ambitious ideas to connect all parts of the Union. We’re a great country and we need to be properly connected,” he said.
The future
Mr Johnson has little time to relax as he combines the burden of power with the responsibility of raising his five-month-old son Wilfred with his fiancée Carrie Symonds. He struggles to remember the latest books he has read, before saying he has read “a couple of William Boyd novels” and Paul Collier’s The Future of Capitalism.
Nor does he watch much television. “I watched a bit of Toy Story 3 last night whilst trying to get someone to sleep,” he smiled. “The plot didn’t seem to be developing much beyond Toy Story and Toy Story 2. Things seemed to be going badly for Woody, but I’m sure it’s going to turn out all right in the end. I had the feeling it would be OK.”
Shortly before Wilfred was born, Mr Johnson was in hospital fighting off coronavirus, an experience he insists has not changed him except “in the sense that I’ve got thinner”.
Having been 17st 6lbs when he went into hospital, he now weighs 15st 8lbs.
He said he has not cut out crisps or snacks, but: “It’s basically about taking lots of exercise and not eating so much. That’s my top tip. Eat less, move more, weigh less.”
He sidestepped the question of whether he and Ms Symonds have yet set a date for their wedding, saying “you will be the first to know all such details”, and also dodged the question of whether he will stand in the next election.
“It’s my intention to get on and deliver a fantastic programme on which we were elected,” he said, before adding, mischievously: “I can rule out standing in 2035.
“I can give you that as an exclusive, that definitely won’t happen… um, well, but if I change my mind I’ll be sure to let you know.”