Imagine a hard-working minimum wage worker in Chatham, the cheapest London commuter town.

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They earn £1,750 a month net. They have a family and pay £1,200 a month to rent a small three-bedroom house. They are clearly poor and will remain so.

Imagine 2001, when houses were much cheaper - three-bedroom homes in Chatham sold for £47,000 in today’s money. I know this particular house well - I grew up next door. Assuming my minimum wage worker could save - or borrow - a £5,000 deposit from family members, the monthly mortgage payment would be just £230 a month, a saving of almost £1,000 a month compared with today’s rent.

In contrast, three-bedroom houses today start at £215,000, whereas a person on the minimum wage can only borrow £115,000, or around 4.5 times their annual income. For someone in that position, saving £100,000 for a deposit is implausible, to say the least.

We need to recreate the conditions seen in 2001 so that everyone in steady work can buy a house. Even a London minimum wage worker must be........

© LBC