Susan Murray MP: speeches

Speeches

• 16 Apr 2026 · Housing Needs: Young People · Hansard source

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  I thank everyone who has taken part in the debate today. They all realise how important it is for young people to have a stable home, whether they come from a looked-after background, are looking for an affordable property or are in the fortunate position of trying to find a property to buy. I thank the Minister for coming along today and for his comments. It is the privilege of Government to take action that matches the rhetoric. We heard from my hon. Friend the Member for West Dunbartonshire (Douglas McAllister) that the Scottish Government have failed in that. I look forward to this Government making affordable accommodation available for young people. Question put and agreed to. Resolved, That this House has considered the housing needs of young people.

• 16 Apr 2026 · Housing Needs: Young People · Hansard source

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  I beg to move, That this House has considered the housing needs of young people. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Butler. Everyone has the right to a safe, secure and healthy home, yet for far too many young people across the United Kingdom, that feels increasingly out of reach. The effects go far beyond housing: it is about young people’s ability to leave home, to work and contribute, to start a family, and to build a stake in the country they call home. I am sure every hon. Member here can see the shift happening in their constituencies. We see children staying at home for longer and struggling to save to move out. In 2024, the Office for National Statistics showed that a third of men aged 20 to 34 were living with their parents, along with just over a fifth of women of the same age. That is not a lifestyle choice; it is the result of a housing market that has moved beyond what young people can afford. Nowhere is the pressure clearer than in the private rented sector. Private renters in the bottom 20% of earners spend an average of 63% of their income on rent, and private renters overall spend 34% of their income on housing. That means that the average renter pays rent that, by the Government’s own definition, is not affordable. Someone renting from the age of 18 will have paid almost £200,000 in rent before reaching the average age of a first-time buyer in Britain—34. A young couple will have paid more in rent than the cost of an average home in the UK plus an extra £110,000 on top. That is not a fair system. It simply strips wealth from younger people and takes away our children’s future. Given the enormous sums of money that young people pay in rent before they have an opportunity to get on the property ladder, will the Minister meet the Liberal Democrats to discuss a rent-to-buy scheme? We also see the strain in the rise of what we call concealed households. In 2020, there were nearly 2 million households that included an additional adult who wanted to rent or buy but could not afford to do so. More than half the people in those households were aged 16 to 24. I am sure we all understand that this stems from years of failure; it is not a problem that has happened overnight. We now have adults living in childhood bedrooms—not because they want to, but because there is nowhere affordable for them to go. For many young people, home ownership feels less realistic and more like a distant aspiration. High prices, high deposit requirements and the pressure of everyday living costs have pushed ownership further and further out of reach. Nowhere is that clearer than in the average age of first-time buyers. In the 1970s, it was as low as 24; now, as of this year, it has been pushed up to 34. It is no wonder that young people feel like the system is not working. ONS data shows that in 2024, the median house-price-to-income ratio was 7.9 in England, 5.4 in Wales, 5.3 in Scotland and 4.6 in Northern Ireland.

• 16 Apr 2026 · Housing Needs: Young People · Hansard source

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  I absolutely agree, and I would add that the Scottish Liberal Democrats are also contributing to the push for additional affordable housing in Scotland. The ONS also found that a median-priced home was affordable to the highest-income 40% of households in Scotland and Wales, while in England it was affordable only to the top 10%. That means that even in the most affordable nation, the average house price is now more than banks are willing to lend to someone on an average salary. Can the Minister tell us what discussions the Government have had with the Financial Conduct Authority about its ongoing mortgage rule review and whether it will publish an assessment of how any changes would affect the under-35s? Any changes must not make the situation worse. Lack of access to affordable homes causes the decline of communities and the widening of wealth gaps. If people can rely on family wealth, or perhaps family sacrifice, to access the property market, they have an enormous headstart on their peers. With that in mind, can the Minister explain what assessment has been made of whether the Government’s first-time buyer support schemes, such as help to buy ISAs, are genuinely reaching young people on ordinary incomes, rather than those who already have family who can help them out? The consequences of this issue, as we have heard, go beyond housing. When young people cannot afford to live near work, talent leaves and our best and brightest look for opportunities overseas. When high rents dominate young people’s finances, local businesses suffer and third spaces die out. The economic impact of the financial stranglehold that housing has on our youth hurts us all. The Minister must recognise that housing and security are now affecting not only where young people live but whether they feel able to start a family. I want to make something clear for those who misrepresent the struggles of young people trying to get on the property ladder: young people are not asking for handouts or special favours, and the reason that they cannot buy a home is not their lifestyle. They are asking for a fair chance—the chance to build a life of their own. It is a chance that previous generations have had. This Government have an enormous majority and, if used properly, the opportunity to give young people real hope. I urge the Government to listen to and work with young people to give them the future that they deserve.

• 15 Jan 2026 · Covid-19: Financial Support · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Stratford-on-Avon (Manuela Perteghella) for securing this important debate. The covid-19 pandemic was undoubtedly one of the most impactful and damaging events to unfold in our lifetimes. Being told to stay inside was incredibly difficult for everyone; people were unable to see loved ones and were uncertain about the future. Thankfully, that time is now just a memory for most—one that we would rather forget, and which we can put behind us as we move forward. Sadly, though, covid is something that many people cannot move past, as we have heard. Across the country, people have lost businesses, lost their homes and, in the worst cases, lost loved ones to the financial stress that the pandemic caused. To add to that distress, the hard-working British people who fell through the gaps have had to watch on as numerous instances of fraud and PPE procurement mismanagement have come to light. Billions of pounds have been wasted and lost; had it been managed properly, that money could have saved people’s livelihoods. In my constituency of Mid Dunbartonshire, we have seen local businesses close. One constituent, who still feels the impact, has told me that a complete lack of support forced their takeaway business, which they had built up from scratch, to shut, yet when they tried to move on, they found that they were at a disadvantage. Despite holding a personal taxi driver’s licence, they had to rent a taxi plate at a cost of more than £400 a week. The absence of meaningful support during covid did not just cost them their business at the time; it continues to have a direct and measurable impact on their ability to rebuild their livelihood today. My constituent is just one of the nearly 4 million people impacted, and these people deserve support, acknowledgment of the loss that they suffered, and an apology. Beyond that, we need to listen to the voices of those affected, and to learn from their experience, so that we can find and plug the gaps in our system that people have fallen through. As the world becomes more unstable, we must make sure that, at home, people and businesses have security. If we are serious about building resilience as a country, we cannot simply move on and hope that those left behind will do the same. We must recognise the harm that has been done. We must be honest about the failures that allowed people to fall through the cracks, and we must take steps to fix them.

• 16 Sept 2025 · Religious Crematoriums · Hansard source

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  I completely agree with that principle, but our systems are not always designed with it in mind. Delays in death certification, the coronial process and registration services frequently mean that families are unable to bury their loved ones within the required timescale. Some local authorities have taken steps to improve responsiveness by offering out-of-hours registration services. Those efforts show that, with the right planning and partnership, it is possible to respect religious obligations around timely burial, but provision remains patchy across the country and too often families are left facing painful delays at a time of grief. In 21st-century Britain, it is not unreasonable to ask that every family should be confident that their loved one can be buried according to their faith. I understand that it is important to recognise the devolved aspect of this matter. In Scotland, the Burial and Cremation (Scotland) Act 2016 provides a modern legislative framework with greater recognition of religious needs. In Wales and Northern Ireland, responsibility also lies with the devolved Administrations, but in England the responsibility rests with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. At UK level, Parliament remains responsible for equalities law and for setting the broader standards of fairness and human rights that underpin our system. That means the Government cannot simply say that crematoriums are a local issue. There is a role for national leadership. All communities across the UK are entitled to expect that their needs will not be ignored because they are in a local minority. Minimum standards, guidance and funding support are all tools available to the Government to ensure fairness across the country. Constituents and communities have raised this issue for many years. Hindu and Sikh organisations have petitioned successive Governments to highlight the lack of appropriate crematoriums. Muslim representatives have repeatedly drawn attention to the difficulties caused by delays in burial, which has also been highlighted by Jewish representatives. Behind every one of those campaigns is a grieving family—real people facing unnecessary distress because our systems are not flexible enough to accommodate their faith. The basic concept is simple: public services must reflect the diversity of the people they serve. That is not a question of favouring one group over another, but of recognising that equality sometimes requires accommodation. A one-size-fits-all approach, designed for the majority, inevitably excludes minorities, and that is not good enough in modern Britain. I therefore ask the Minister to commit to three steps. The first is to review the provision of religiously appropriate crematoriums across Britain, to identify gaps and to work with local authorities to close them. The second is to work with the relevant authorities to ensure that coroner and registration services are able to respond to the urgent burial needs of certain faiths with clear national guidance. The third step is to ensure that the equality duty is properly considered in all planning and funding decisions relating to crematoriums and burial services, so that minority communities are not excluded. How we treat people at the end of life reflects who we are as a society. A society that truly respects diversity and equality is one that values every community, however small, and ensures that they can say farewell to their loved ones in accordance with their beliefs. Families in grief should not face barriers, compromises or indignities. They should find public services that meet them with understanding, respect and compassion.