David Cameron is launching the Conservatives’ general election manifesto, with a pledge to extend the right-to-buy scheme for housing association tenants in England.
The PM will say up to 1.3 million tenants could buy their homes at a discount as a result, insisting the Tories are the party of working people.
Other announcements are expected on tax and public services.
Labour said the right-to-buy pledge would cost £4.5bn and was “unfunded”.
The Conservative launch in Swindon comes the day after Ed Miliband put forwardLabour’s version – promising to improve the lives of Britain’s workers and not to pay for any policies through additional borrowing.
The main Conservative pledges are expected to include:
- Taking all workers on the minimum wage out of income tax
- Lifting the inheritance tax threshold on family homes to £1m by 2017
- No above-inflation rises in rail fares until 2020
- An extra £8bn a year for the NHS by 2020
- Plans to build an extra 400,000 homes funded by council house sales
In his speech, Mr Cameron will say the Conservatives offer “security at every stage of your life” and warn of the risk of electing Labour.
“My message to Britain is this: we have come this far together. Let’s not waste the past five years,” he will say.
Right-to-buy details
- People living in council houses are entitled to purchase their homes at adiscounted rate, which depends on the type of property and how long they have been a council tenant
- The terms and discounts available vary in different parts of the United Kingdom
- The maximum discount is £77,900 across England but £103,900 in London
- It is being abolished in Scotland and also faces abolition in Wales
The party said 15,000 homes would be sold and replaced every year as a result, and that the proceeds would also cover a fund to help councils bring derelict land back on brownfield sites to use.
