News
Bethan McKernan
Jan 05, 2016
Prime minister and multimillionaire David Cameron has said that he's worried about whether his own children will ever be homeowners.
Speaking on LBC radio on Monday about plans to address the housing crisis by paying developers to build on public land, the prime minister said:
I absolutely worry about it. This is why this is the first announcement I have made in 2016 of a series of steps to build more homes.
All of us who own our own homes, you can remember the magic of that first moment, the first set of keys.
I want this to be a country where if you work hard, you’re putting the hours in, you should be able to own a flat or a house of your own.
Unfortunately, for us mere plebs, that doesn't seem likely to happen any time soon.
The prime minister trumpeted the government's so-called starter homes plans at the Conservative party conference in October, but housing charity Shelter crunched the numbers and found that even the planned 200,000 new homes, at up to £450,000 a pop, are unaffordable for the vast majority of Britons.
A family on the minimum wage in 2020 would only be able to afford houses in two per cent of England's councils - and in London, even 'starter' homes will only be affordable for people earning more than £77,000 - the cut off salary for being in the one per cent.
Graphic: ShelterCameron owns two homes and he and wife Samantha's combined wealth is estimated at £30m.
With that financial cushion, Cameron's surviving children Nancy (11), Arthur (nine) and Florence (five) are probably some of the only kids in the country who won't be part of generation rent.
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