JULIE ELLIOTT: My Private Members Bill – supporting more families to get on the housing ladder

It is a huge privilege to introduce a Bill - it is something most MPs don’t get the opportunity to do.

However, as I was drawn first in the ballot of MPs, I get to present any Bill that I would like to, and it has a good chance of becoming law.

I could have chosen to present Bills on a number of subjects, but I know how important it is to people in Sunderland to get on the housing ladder, so I am introducing a Bill to try and make that easier.

We all have family and friends for whom the ambition of buying their own home is still out of reach.

Building societies were founded to help working people own a home of their own, and they direct a greater amount of their lending to first-time buyers than banks do. In the North East and Cumbria, building societies have supported nearly 4,000 first time buyers in the first nine months of this year – and over 20,000 since 2020.

They are owned by their members, not shareholders, but they are held back by legislation that is not fit for today’s economy. We need to update the rules so that more support is available for people in the housing market, and especially first-time buyers.

Changing the legislation around building societies is long overdue. For decades the UK’s building societies have faced different rules than the high street banks on how they fund themselves.

Levelling the playing field between banks and building societies opens up untapped potential lending – which could make the difference for people in Sunderland trying to get on the housing ladder. My Bill seeks to unlock billions of pounds of extra lending – it’s estimated that for every £10 billion of new lending capacity, there is potential to support an additional 20,000 average first time buyers to buy their own home.

This bill will make an impact for years to come if it passes through Parliament. There is a chance that the General Election I’ve called for in this column many times could come before the Bill is passed, but I am doing everything I can to make it happen.

For over 200 years, building societies have helped people buy their own home. My Bill will help more of them to do that.