§ The Prime MinisterI am making plans for a series of visits and hope to include Kent among them.
§ Mr. DunnIs the Prime Minister aware that the people of north-west Kent have always been strong supporters of home ownership and, as such, welcome the changes in stamp duty which will encourage the housing market? They also welcome the new, exciting, radical right-to-buy campaign announced today.
§ The Prime MinisterI am grateful to my hon. Friend. I think he will find that that welcome will extend across not just north-west Kent but the whole country. In a recent survey, 89 per cent. of people under 30 said that they wished to own their own homes. We shall again give more of them the opportunity to do so. Raising the stamp duty threshold will halve the number of houses on which stamp duty has to be paid. That, with low interest rates and the lowest mortgage rates for nearly 30 years, will dramatically increase the possibility for millions to become home owners.