Labour pledges to create 1.5 million new homes

  Reviewed by: Mobeen Akram - New Homes Director             

With a new Labour government now in power, the party has started to roll out plans for their new policies, including their pledge to build 1.5 million new homes. With the UK’s current housing crisis, there is no question that we need to pick up the pace on building new housing developments, but Labour has been challenged as to whether the scale of their target is too ambitious. Read on to find out more.

Labour’s pledge to build 1.5 million homes

Within five years, the Labour government plans to build 1.5 million new homes in a pledge to tackle the UK housing crisis and ‘get Britain moving again’. 

The new policy will enable the government to offer the biggest increase in social and affordable housing in a generation¹ as Starmer promises “shovels in the ground and cranes in the sky to deliver more beautiful cities and more prosperous towns”.² 

Why do we need more housing? 

Lack of social housing, soaring property prices, and rising rent, as a result of a national housing shortage, has accumulated to a UK housing crisis. Families simply cannot afford the accommodation that is on offer, whether that’s buying or renting. 

There are currently more than 1.29 million households on the council housing waiting list³, and with figures like this, it is clear that as a nation, we are in desperate need of more affordable housing in our communities. Labour’s plan aims to help this, but it is a lofty goal. 

How does Labour set out to achieve their plan? 

All councils in England have been set new housing targets to help Labour deliver their goal of 1.5 million more homes. The government has also expanded on the types of land where homes can be built, as laid out in the newly updated National Planning Policy Framework. 

Brownfield land 

Brownfield land refers to previously developed sites that are now abandoned. This type of land is often found in city centres such as Birmingham and Manchester, and is the first priority for building any new homes or developments. 

Grey belt land 

Grey belt land is poor quality, ‘ugly’ land that sits on the edge of existing settlements and roads. For instance, old car parks and petrol stations. However, as this type of land sits on the edge of the protected green belt land, it has caused some controversy. 

Green belt land 

Green belt land is protected land that is to be kept permanently open. It acts as a buffer between towns so is strictly not to be built on. 

That being said, there is to be a review of the ‘green belt land’ as some of the less nature-rich and beautiful areas may need to become ‘grey belt land’ in order to achieve the government’s ambitious target.  Shadow Housing Secretary, Kemi Badanoch accused Deputy Prime Minister and Housing Secretary, Angela Raynor of giving the go-ahead to build “1.5 million ugly homes” in England¹, despite Labour promising that building on green belt land will only be a last resort. 

To enforce their promise, the Labour government has introduced three golden rules for any land that is released in grey or green belt land:

1. At least 50% of the housing needs to be affordable homes
2. Increase access to green spaces
3. Access to good infrastructures e.g. schools and GP surgeries

Angela Raynor, explains, “Our decisive reforms to the planning system correct the errors of the past and set us on our way to tackling the housing crisis, delivering 1.5 million homes for those who really need them. And something I am personally proud of, our new flexibilities for councils will boost the number of social and affordable homes, and give working families a better route to a secure home.”³

What is affordable housing?

Affordable housing makes housing more accessible for those whose needs can’t be met by the private sector. 

Affordable rent, and housing for sale, are both to be 20% below the market rent or value prices, in order to be more affordable for those who need it most. 

There is also help for first time buyers with alternative routes to homeownership with schemes such as the Shared Ownership scheme where you buy a share of the property and pay rent on the rest. There is also the Mortgage Guarantee scheme which allows you to buy a house with as little as a 5% deposit. 

Use our affordability calculator to find out what sort of mortgage you could afford, by entering a few details. 

How much is it going to cost to reach Labour’s housing target? 

Raynor explained that £450m of the local authority housing fund will go to councils to provide 2,000 new homes¹, with more details being revealed in the autumn budget on 30 October. The government has also revealed there is to be an increase in stamp duty charges by 1% for the purchase of residential homes for non-UK residents, to help get Britain building again. 

However, there has been much scrutiny on the scale of this project and whether it’s even realistic without upscaling the necessary resources and workers, such as building inspectors, construction workers and local authority planners. 

More than that, the UK’s infrastructure needs to be improved to support that level of new housing, from roads and accessible space, to the power grid and water supply.

This is what has evolved so far but we’ll know more in October. In the meantime, you can keep up to date with other subjects like this by subscribing to our newsletter. 

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