Labour announce plans to help build more homes

Today Shadow Housing Minister Emma Reynolds will explain how Labour will help those companies classed as small and medium enterprises (SME) build more houses as part of an effort to addressing the housing crisis.

In a speech at Parliament, Reynolds will reveal new figures that show since 2010, 356 fewer homes have been built every day, resulting in 652,000 overcrowded households. These figures also show the number of homes built by SME builders has dropped from 34% in 2010 to 27% now.

Labour will, therefore, introduce a ‘Help-to-Build’, a scheme designed to enable SMEs to use low-cost bank lending with Treasury guarantees. They’ll also make it so local authorities must to include a higher number of small sites in their five-year land supply and introduce fast-track planning on small sites where there are less than ten homes.

Reynolds will say:

“We are not even building half the number of homes that we need to keep up with demand. A record number of young people in their twenties and thirties are living at home with their parents. Many young people and families are priced out of home ownership and some of these families are living in overcrowded conditions.

“Every day we are building 356 fewer homes than we need because the Tories have presided over the lowest levels of housebuilding in peacetime since the 1920s.

“We need a more diverse and competitive housing market to build the homes we need but in recent years small builders have fallen into decline. 

“Labour will boost small builders, increase house building and help make home ownership a realistic aspiration for the next generation. Labour is committed to building many more homes which is why we will get 200,000 homes built a year by 2020, creating up to 230,000 jobs.”