I seriously have to congratulate everyone on this thread, from the opening post, to the posts that followed: I agree with everything everyone says here!!! Seriously, the government make me so angry that I don't know whether to cry or smash something! 
I am not even 40 yet, but in my lifetime, I don't think I can recall a government that has let the public down on such an epic scale. It's reached a point now where it's become almost laughable... (I say 'almost' because I am thinking that the things they are doing/have done are a huge wind-up,, and then I realise they are serious!')
Going back to the original post: Yes I have to agree that that they SHOULD be putting money into cheap and affordable rented housing, not encouraging people to take on a mortgage they probably can't afford, and although it's OK for some: buying a home isn't always what it's cracked up to be: there are many people who simply can't and shouldn't be homeowners, because being a homeowner involves a lot of responsibility and expense.. This is typical TORY government though: encouraging people to buy their own home, because you're an under-achiever if you rent. It's like the days of Maggie again!
This snooty out of touch privately educated dickhead Cameron should NEVER have been allowed into number 10 And that is NOT inverted snobbery... he knows SOD-ALL about what life is like for ordinary folk!