Balls wants to tax bankers to fund new homes

Shadow chancellor Ed Balls has called for a fresh tax on bank bonuses to help fund the construction of 25,000 new affordable homes, which he believes will create up to 100,000 new jobs.

Speaking at the Labour Party conference in Liverpool yesterday, Mr Balls insisted that a repeat of the bank bonus tax to help pay for 25,000 new homes was in the country's best interest, given the current housing crisis and lack of job opportunities.

"It can't be right to be cutting taxes on the banks when almost one in five young people are now out of work," he said.

Earlier this month, Rob Perrins, managing director of Berkeley Group, told leading housing and property leaders gathered at the Celtic Manor in south Wales for the annual RESI conference that the house building sector has a huge role to play in helping the country's economic recovery, subject to the necessary government support.

"If we build the 240,000 new homes each year that this country needs, it would help bring us out of recession, as we'd create five jobs for each property produced."