Politicians say the Conservatives have failed first time house buyers after a report said the party failed in its promise to deliver new ‘starter homes’.

The Conservative manifesto in 2015 pledged to deliver 200,000 of the homes exclusively to people under 40 by 2020, although the National Audit Office found no such homes have been built.

The November 2015 spending review put aside £2.3 billion to support the delivery of the first 60,000 starter homes.

But the National Audit Office found the funding for starter homes had gone on acquiring and preparing brownfield sites for housing more generally.

However, Dean Russell, Conservative parliamentary candidate for Watford, said the number of first-time buyers was at an 11-year high.

He continued: “Over half a million households have been helped into home ownership through government schemes such as Help to Buy and introducing first-time buyers' relief on Stamp Duty.

“For Watford, house building can only work when it goes side-by-side with more GP and school places and this will be at the heart of my campaign.”

But Chris Ostrowski, Labour parliamentary candidate for Watford, said the Conservatives have “wasted time and spent millions of pounds with nothing to show for it”.

He continued: “The Conservatives have failed first time buyers since 2015 by not building a single starter home under this pledge.

“We are suffering the biggest housing crisis in a generation and the government has over promised and under delivered.

“We need genuinely affordable housing - not properties rented out at extortionate prices, trapping people in the private rented sector.

“After nearly 10 years of Conservative failure on housing, the country needs a Labour Government to fix the housing crisis.”

Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate for Watford Ian Stotesbury added it was fundamental people had their own homes and his party would work for a situation where people can afford and rent their own home.

He said: “There is a housing crisis in Britain and one of the most fundamental ways to solve that is through homes.

“It is outrageous that starter homes aren’t being built by this Government and the Liberal Democrats have been fighting for new housing development for a long time.

“The Government is not leaning on this issue.”

William Berry, Brexit Party parliamentary candidate for Watford, felt the area was already very overdeveloped due to too much uncontrolled immigration from the EU, making it harder for young people to find or buy starter homes.

He continued: “A big concern for voters across the country is over development of land and huge population increases resulting in very stretched services. This is particularly true in Watford.

“Leaving the EU in a clean break Brexit will result in us having immediate control on our sky-high immigration and we can reduce it to a manageable level.”