<p><span>Labour leader Keir Starmer has pledged to get 1.5 million more people onto the housing ladder, declaring his party “the party of home ownership”. </span></p> <p><span>Delivering his speech at the Labour party conference in Liverpool, Starmer said Labour would set a target of 70% home ownership, up from the current 65%. </span></p> <p><span>He said that under the Conservative government, “</span><span>the dream of owning your own home is slipping away for too many.”</span></p> <p><span>He continued: “That’s a political choice. Because if you keep inflating demand without increasing supply house prices will only rise. And homes become less affordable for working people.”</span></p> <p><span>Under Labour, buy-to-let-landlords and second home owners would be stopped “getting in first”. Starmer said he would help “real” first time buyers onto the housing ladder through a new mortgage guarantee scheme. </span></p> <p><span>Labour would also reform planning, Starmer stated, “so speculators can’t stop communities getting shovels in the ground”. </span></p> <p><span>“My message is this - if you’re grafting every hour to buy your own home Labour is on your side,” Starmer said. “Labour is the party of home ownership in Britain today.”</span></p> <p><span>The Labour leader also highlighted the party’s Green Prosperity Plan “to turn the UK into a green …