Flint taunted over house prices

Housing Minister Caroline Flint faced Liberal Democrat taunts in the Commons after accidentally revealing details of a likely fall in house prices.

Ms Flint's briefing notes were picked out by a sharp-eyed photographer as she walked into Downing Street.

The note conceded that house prices would fall by 5 to 10% "at best" this year and that "we can't know how bad it will get".

At question time, Lib Dem Julia Goldsworthy said: "Thanks to your transparent choice of stationery we now know your department expects house prices to, at best, fall by 10 - 15%.

"What's your estimate of the worst case scenario?"

Ms Flint said: "What we are working towards at the moment is how we can engage with the construction industry, the mortgage lenders and how we can work across government to ensure we do whatever we can to deal with the challenges at this current time.

"But fundamentally it's about having a long-term view about how we make sure when the upturn comes, and it does, we are on task to build more homes."

Share this article

Send this article to a friend »

• Del.icio.us
• Digg
• Reddit
• Facebook
• StumbleUpon

What are these?