Labour will get Britain building again to tackle the housing crisis - Angela Rayner

This certainty is what businesses are telling us they need to get building and it’s also what families need.

Right now, Britain is in the middle of a housing crisis. In hostels across the country, there are kids in temporary accommodation, doing their homework on the bathroom floors.

Couples are stuck living with parents, unable to move in and start a family. People's lives have been put on hold because there just aren’t enough homes. Today there are around 8.5 million people with some kind of unmet housing need. Solving our housing crisis is undoubtedly complex, but we are determined to work with you to solve it.

The truth is we have a planning system which has become gummed up.

Fewer than 70,000 planning applications were approved in the last quarter of 2023, the worst period on record, with fewer developments green-lit than during the height of the pandemic. Getting shovels in the ground is crucial.

New homes don’t just provide families with the security to get on in life, these projects are central to creating good well-paid jobs, unlocking infrastructure like schools, hospitals, GP surgeries, and above all, sparking the economic growth Britain so desperately needs.

Because for every brick that is laid and every door handle screwed in, there is not just a family gaining a home, but another gaining an income. There is a supply chain which benefits.

Creating growth that in turn pays for our NHS, our schools, and our country’s future. We know the majority of developers are on the same page, eager to work in partnership with government to unlock housebuilding. That requires an active central government. Including the re-introduction of local housing targets.

When Rishi Sunak binned this policy, he did so because he’s too weak to stand up to his own MPs and now the public is paying the price. We’re already seeing the consequences for house building rates across England.

The Conservatives have failed to hit their housing target each and every year since they set it, meaning that we continue to lag well behind much of Europe on house building. So, we will re-introduce local housing targets and ensure they are met.

But our ambition goes far beyond simply reversing the worst failures of the past few years.

In the spirit of Clement Attlee, our approach to housebuilding will be both proactive and strategic.

As Secretary of State, I will empower our regional and local leaders to deliver, as Labour councils and the mayor do here in West Yorkshire. Together, we can build beautiful new settlements right across the UK.

An abridged version of a speech by Shadow Housing Secretary Angela Rayner, at the UKREiiF conference in Leeds.