Labour Sets Out Mandatory Housing Target Of 370,000
Levelling-up Secretary and Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner leaves Downing Street after a cabinet meeting(Alamy)
3 min read
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner has announced a nationwide housing target of 370,000 homes per year to get "Britain building".
The new target for councils will be mandatory, Rayner told MPs on Tuesday, and will include the construction of a wide range of homes for first-time buyers and those needing council houses.
The mandatory target of 370,000 homes replaces the previous Tory government's advisory target of 300,000 homes per year.
Rayner, who is also the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, said in her House of Commons statement that fewer than 200,000 homes were built over the last 12 months, and that the country was facing "the most acute housing crisis in living history".
The Conservatives while in government tried to mandate a target of 300,000 homes per year before they were forced to scrap the plans after a backbench rebellion.
Meanwhile, reforming the planning system and increasing housing supply was central to the Labour manifesto which helped the party win a 176-seat majority on 4 July.
"We are ambitious, and what I say won't be without controversy, but this is urgent, because this Labour government is not afraid to take on the tough choices needed to deliver for our country," Rayner told MPs this afternoon.
Rayner criticised the previous government for building too few homes in a bid to "appease their anti-housing backbenches".
"They knew that this would tank housing supply, but they still did it," Rayner said, referring to the previous government's decision to avoid implementing mandatory housing targets.
"These reforms are key to realising our wider growth ambitions. Part of that comes from new homes themselves, releasing untapped potential of our towns and cities that for too long have been throttled by the insufficient and unaffordable housing."
The Labour leadership believes building more homes and key infrastructure will be integral to increasing economic growth across the country.
Rayner announced, however, that she had lowered the housing target for London from 100,000 homes per year to 80,000. She claimed the previous figure was "absolute nonsense" and an "arbitrary figure".
"The target we're now setting for London, rougly 80,000, is still a huge ask. But I know it's one that the mayor [Sadiq Khan] is determined to rise to."
The Deputy Prime Minister confirmed as well as using brownfield land, housebuilders must be given permission to build on parts of the greenbelt to plug the housing deficit in the UK if necessary.
"If we have targets for what we need to build, we next need to ensure we'll build these [homes]. The first port of call must be brownfield land. We are making some changes today to support this, but it's only part of the answer.
"This is why we must create more strategic system for Greenbelt release to make it work for the 21st century."
Where land in the greenbelt is developed, new "golden rules" will require developers to provide 50 per cent affordable housing with a focus on social renter accomodation coupled with plans for more schools, GP surgeries and transport links.
Rayner, who grew up on a council estate, told MPs the Labour Government led by Keir Starmer wanted to deliver a "council house revolution".
"This government will build 1.5 million homes that are high quality, well designed and sustainable. We will achieve the biggest boost to affordable housing for a generation, and we will get Britain building to spur the growth that we need," Rayner said.
PoliticsHome Newsletters
PoliticsHome provides the most comprehensive coverage of UK politics anywhere on the web, offering high quality original reporting and analysis: Subscribe
