The Tory mortgage bombshell means first time buyers are now likely to need a £102,000 deposit to keep their monthly payments at the same level as a year ago.

Staggeringly, that is over three times the £30,000 figure that first time buyers were having to save for as an average deposit this time last year.

This has put the dream of home ownership out of the reach of millions and shows the stark reality of the Tory mortgage crisis.

Too often, families who are saving for their first home but getting no closer to buying it feel like they’re doing something wrong.

As the party of home ownership, Labour have said they will put social and genuinely affordable housing at the heart of their plans, support first-time buyers with a comprehensive mortgage insurance scheme, and give greater rights and protections to renters.

Last month, interest rates rose for the 13th time in a row, increasing the painful squeeze on personal finances but Labour has set out a plan to ease the Tory mortgage crisis with a set of mandatory measures.

These would be made compulsory by instructing the regulator to require all lenders to bring in measures such as allowing borrowers to switch to interest only mortgage payments for a temporary period or to lengthen the term of their mortgage period.

By failing to make its own measures mandatory, the Government are allowing households slip through the cracks and miss out on the mortgage support they need.

Recent analysis from Labour shows Tory failure on housebuilding is set to deal a £44 billion blow to the UK economy, with the state set to miss out on £16 billion in tax receipts because of the projected fall in housebuilding.

Earlier this year, Keir Starmer set out Labour’s mission for growth, with a target to achieve the highest sustained growth in the G7, with good jobs and productivity growth in every part of the country making everyone, not just a few, better off.

Unlike this government, Labour will not stand by as millions face a mortgage catastrophe made in Downing Street.

They haven’t just made life so much more expensive for mortgage holders and renters alike – now their continued failure to build more homes means the hopes and dreams of so many are destroyed.

 Labour’s mandatory plan to ease the Tory mortgage bombshell offers practical help now, while our commitment to fiscal responsibility and growth mission will secure our economy for the future.