Key points
Jeremy Corbyn used all six of his questions to press the prime minister over the government’s record on housing. His last question introduced a constituent, Linda, who wants to downsize her council house due to her advancing age but now faces a dilemma: stay and be charged the bedroom tax for her too-big home; leave or face losing her secure tenancy.
Snap verdict
The Labour leader started well, with precise, technical points that put David Cameron on the back foot, but the prime minister soon got the upper hand with a strong rhetorical point about aspiration (branding Labour as small-c conservatives who would let people stew in sink estates) and a useful statistic about average deposit costs. He also apparently solved Linda’s dilemma by claiming that pensioners were not liable for the bedroom tax.
In truth, the Tory record on home ownership is poor (Cameron ignored the question about the rate of decline), and Corbyn’s success is largely driven by the fury of young people (especially in London) who have no chance of buying a home, but worryingly Cameron comfortably bested him on this topic.
Best lines
Corbyn accused Cameron of belatedly releasing information this week on the housing crisis – but that the promised £140m to renovate 100 estates amounted to only £1.4m each. He called it a “drop in the ocean” that would not even cover the bulldozer costs.
Challenged by Corbyn that his housing policy was “not thought out”, Cameron replied: “Well I admit it is not as well thought out as his reshuffle.”
For more on PMQs, read our politics live blog with Andrew Sparrow.
• This article was updated on 13 January 2015. An earlier version said Corbyn’s constituent, Linda, was retired. Although this was implied, it was not explicitly stated.
