Bank to supervise housing plans
George Osborne is to give the Bank of England a greater check over the government's Help to Buy scheme to ensure it does not fuel a housing boom. The Bank will make annual reviews, rather than every three years.
Balls: Osborne should review Help to Buy now
Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls has said the government should review the Help to Buy scheme now, rather than annually.
He said: "It's totally ill-thought through for George Osborne to decide that a scheme which should be about helping first time buyers will allow taxpayer backed mortgages for homes worth up to £600,000.
"And George Osborne is still failing to address the fundamental problem of the lowest level of house building since the 1920s.
"You can't deal with the cost of living crisis without building more homes."
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