Labour’s plan to boost house building

We have hit the ground running, setting out a positive programme for the country in the King’s Speech.

However, due to the tough economic circumstances we have inherited - a £22 billion hole in public finances due to the Conservative Government’s unfunded gimmicks - Labour is having to take the tough decisions needed to get Britain building – to secure new homes, create jobs, breathe life back into our towns and cities, and get our economy growing once again.

We are saddled with the most acute housing crisis in living memory. Throughout my time in Parliament, people have raised with me their struggles with housing, whether it’s substandard accommodation, overcrowding, extortionate rents, long waits on the housing register, or an inability to get on the housing ladder.

For fourteen long years, Tory self-interest prevented families across Britain from having access to a safe, secure, and affordable home. The Conservative’s failure to get Britain building has sent rents skyrocketing, homelessness is now at record levels, 112,660 households are stuck in temporary accommodation, and 1.3 million households across the country are waiting for a council home.

We will turn the tide on a decade of sluggish economic growth and stalled housebuilding. The Labour Government will get Britain building again and finally put an end to the housing crisis.

The Deputy Prime Minister has already set out the Government’s plans to tackle the housing crisis, and deliver the homes we need across the country, including building over 1.5 million new homes over the next 5 years, and delivering the biggest growth in social and affordable housebuilding, including council houses, in a generation.

Labour is also reforming planning rules, restoring mandatory housing targets, and reviewing greenbelt boundaries to identify ‘grey belt’ land. Development on ‘grey belt’ land will provide 50% affordable housing, with a focus on social rent.

Labour has a plan to fix the housing crisis, and I’ll be making sure Luton South & South Bedfordshire benefits from this positive change.