Telford MP warns we are on brink of 'mortgage catastrophe' with her constituents now 'struggling'

Writing on her website, Lucy Allan, who last week announced she was to stand down at the next General Election, said home ownership is the 'ultimate Conservative dream' dating back to Margaret Thatcher.

She said: "Telford is a rapidly expanding New Town where people buy into that dream and strive to own their own home. It’s a benchmark of success, an indicator of respectability. It gives people security for life, a stake in society, it enables communities to thrive."

But she added that her constituents were now "struggling".

"Interest rates have doubled since last summer. More and more ordinary hard working people cannot pay their mortgage," she said.

"That has hideous consequences. It’s not just an extra bill they need to find a bit of extra cash for by skipping a night out or putting off that weekend break.

"Each and every month it’s beyond their reach. They are raiding their savings accounts, cancelling their pension contributions, borrowing from friends and family, hoping this will be a short lived crisis; but it won't. We know that."

She said as a chartered accountant with a 20-year career in finance, she was worried there was too much complacency over the issue in Whitehall and warned officials that they needed to listen to her concerns.

She said: "Senior officials oozing complacency at the Bank of England, smart Treasury SpADs and important mid ranking ministers, I am qualified to speak about this. Don’t do the usual 'What would some backbench MP from where is it again... know about the economy?' We sold them this dream.

"This is a mortgage catastrophe staring us in the face. While I will still tell my constituents to speak to their lender and get debt advice from the CAB, if I were their financial adviser, my advice would be: sell now, while you still can, it’s only going to get worse."