Humiliation for Labour as Angela Rayner’s big promise ‘out of reach’ | Politics | News
Labour’s plans to build 1.5 million homes before the next Parliament have been slammed as “completely out of reach”. A Government document released last week showed that ministers expect around 1.1 million homes to be built between 2024 and 2029, well short of the ambitious target.
Former Housing Secretary Angela Rayner spearheaded the pledge to build 1.5 million homes after the 2024 election, with planning reform high on the agenda to achieve this. Steve Reed stepped into the role following her departure from Government over a tax scandal involving the amount she had paid on the purchase of a new home last September.
Officials have insisted in public that the goal remains achievable, but it’s a different matter behind the scenes, according to The Times. One industry official said it was widely acknowledged in and out of Government that the 1.5 million target was “completely out of reach”.
The Government document reportedly showed that the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) expects housebuilding in England to drop by around 20,000 this year.
19,000 new homes were built in 2025, with the estimate set to rise again next year, with 216,000 homes built, rising again to 250,000 in 2028.
While the Government said the projections did not account for further changes to planning laws and investment in social housing, industry officials have warned that factors including Labour policies and the ongoing cost-of-living crisis are taking their toll.
A spokesperson for the Home Builders Federation said: “The significant increase in taxes and policy costs that have been layered onto development are having a crippling impact on the viability of housebuilding.”
They added: “Allied to increases in material costs and broader economic uncertainty, we are at the point that a great many sites across swathes of the country are now unviable to develop.
“Without further policy interventions, the likelihood is that housing supply will fall further from current levels that are already well short of what is needed to meet the Government’s ambitious targets.”
Housing minister Matthew Pennycook said Labour was “pulling every lever” to achieve the 1.5 million target in a BBC interview last week.
He added: “It’s going broadly as expected, although the headwinds are getting stronger for very obvious reasons … We always knew it would be from a low base coming in and the 1.5 million target involved a very steep increase in housebuilding rates.”
A spokesperson for the MHCLG said: “These figures only covered existing planning reforms and did not account for pro-growth reforms in the landmark Planning and Infrastructure Bill, the £16 billion National Housing Bank and further proposed changes to the national planning policy framework.
“We’re clear we expect planning permissions to be built out as quickly as possible and have set out new proposed powers for councils to help housebuilders play their part to build 1.5 million homes and weather any geopolitical pressure.”
