John Healey MP, Labour’s Shadow Housing Secretary, responding to the new ONS analysis of first-time buyer housing affordability, said:

“After eight years of failure, Ministers have no plan to fix the freefall in the number of young people who own a home.

“Home ownership rose under Labour but has fallen under the Conservatives and is now at a 30-year low.

“You can’t make home ownership more affordable without building more affordable homes, so the next Labour Government will build a million low-cost homes to rent and buy over ten years.”