UK home prices to drop significantly from Brexit: Osborne
The head of the British Treasury, George Osborne, says if UK voters decided to leave the European Union (EU) in a referendum in June, it would be "catastrophic" for jobs and homeowners would face a "significant hit" from lower house prices.
"This isn't just a big question about who we are as a country. This goes to the heart of people's financial security," Osborne, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, said in an interview on ITV television on Sunday.
"I am pretty clear that there will be a significant hit to the value of people's homes and to the cost of mortgages. That is one example of the kind of impact, economic impact, that we get from leaving the EU," he said.
Osborne has led the UK government's argument that leaving the EU would cost people money.
UK Justice Secretary Michael Gove, a leading voice in the "Vote Leave" campaign, told the BBC that Britain should leave the single market, but keep British access to it, and criticized "the rules that the European Court of Justice imposes on us".
Opinion polls have indicated that UK voters believe staying in the EU would be best for Britain's economy, but that support for leaving and remaining still remains at a virtual tie.
The economy and the impact of a possible British exit, or Brexit, on jobs, wages and trade are a key battleground for both the "In" and "Out" campaigns before Britons vote on June 23 on whether to stay in the 28-member bloc.
The "Out" campaign says the British economy would flourish over the long term outside the EU as Britain would be able to strike its own trade deals, spend its EU budget contributions at home and scale back rules and regulations.
The “In” campaign, those in favor of remaining in the bloc, argue that leaving it would risk the UK's prosperity, diminish its influence over world affairs, and result in trade barriers between the UK and the EU.
Osborne said in the interview that leaving the single European market would be "catastrophic" for jobs.
He said Brexit could cost households 4,300 pounds a year by 2030 in terms of lost growth in the economy and earnings.
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