Scott Mann has secured a meeting with the Prime Minister after highlighting the challenges facing prospective home buyers in Cornwall.
Speaking in the House of Commons during Prime Minister's Questions, Scott Mann highlighted the gap between average wages and average house prices as a major hurdle to home buyers in Cornwall and other rural and coastal areas.
He said:
"In Cornwall there is huge disparity between average house prices and average wages. Many working families earning between £15,000 and £20,000 a year would need to earn 10 times their income to buy an open-market house, and the average salary in Cornwall is about £18,000 a year.
"The challenges of housing delivery in urban areas are fundamentally different from those in rural and coastal areas. I know that my right hon. Friend cares deeply about getting people on to the housing ladder. Will she therefore meet me, and a group of rural and coastal MPs, to discuss how we can tackle this vital issue?"
Addressing Scott's concerns, the Prime Minister recognised the challenges facing young people who want to get on the housing ladder and agreed to meet with him to discuss the issue.
The Prime Minister said:
"My hon. Friend has raised an important point, and he is absolutely right to do so. Home ownership is a dream, and, sadly, too many young people today feel that they will not be able to achieve that dream.
"We have been having success — last year more homes were built than in any but one of the last 30 years — but we need to ensure that we are helping people into home ownership and seeing more homes being built. I should be happy to meet my hon. Friend and others to discuss this matter."
You can watch Scott's question in PMQs here.
