Boris Johnson unveils bumper £5bn ‘new deal’ recovery plan with a third off thousands of homes for first-time buyers

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BORIS Johnson has today promised thousands of discounted homes for first-time buyers in a bumper multi-billion pound package to help Britain bounce back from coronavirus.

In a major speech in Dudley this morning the PM vowed to get the country back on track with a “New Deal” programme of building and investment – and fast tracking £5billion of spending.

Boris outlined his plans today in a major speech

The PM vowed a Roosevelt-style plan to pick up the country and get it going again after three months of shutdown.

And he announced what was billed as “the most radical reforms to our planning system since the Second World War” by cutting red tape to revitalise our high streets.

He told voters in the Blue Wall seats the Government is on a “mission to unite and level up” the UK.

As he revealed his plan to help Britain get back on its feet, he said: “It is time not just for a new deal, but a fair deal for the British people.

“We are preparing now – slowly, cautiously – to come out of hibernation.

“If we are to deal with the coming economic aftershock, then this Covid crisis is also the moment to address the problems in our country that we have failed to tackle for decades.”

Alongside his programme he revealed £12billion of funding for a homes plan that will support up to 180,000 new affordable homes for ownership and rent over the next 8 years.

Included in that will be a 1,500 unit pilot of ‘First Homes’ told to people buying a home for the first time – at a 30% discount.

The PM said today: “We will build fantastic new homes on brownfields sites and other areas, with better transport and other infrastructure, that could be suitable and right for development.

“We will address that intergenerational injustice and help young people get people the housing ladder the way their parents and grandparents could.

“We will build better, we will build greener, and faster.”

This will stay and be passed down the generations, with the idea that it keeps the affordable for years to come.

£400m of cash is set to be allocated to the West Midlands, Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, Liverpool City Region, Sheffield City Region, and North of Tyne and Tees Valley to support around 24,000 new homes.

He vowed again not to return to the years of “what people called austerity” seen in previous administrations to cope with a financial crash.

“The world has moved on since 2008,” he added.

Also announced today:

  • New building regulations will allow empty buildings to be easily transformed into new homes without the red tape – known as ‘Project Speed’
  • Old retail buildings will be able to be turned into cafés or other services without requiring planning permission – in a boost for Britain’s high streets
  • £1.5billion will be spent on hospital repairs, £560m school upgrades and repairs, plus £200m to further education colleges 
  • £1bn to fund 10-year school rebuilding programme
  • Some £900million will be allocated to “shovel ready” projects, mainly in the Midlands and North
  • £142million on upgrading courts
  • £83million for maintaining prisons & £60million for temporary prison places
  • £100million on upgrading bridges and roads to tackle bottlenecks
  • £1bn to fund 10-year school rebuilding programme
  • £10m to improve railways around Manchester
  • Vowed to plant 30,000 hectares of trees