Angela Rayner says she 'doesn't lose' with 1.5m Labour housing target

She has announced major planning reforms to speed up the number of houses being built and unlock green belt land for development to try and reach the target.

When answering questions yesterday from the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee, Ms Rayner revealed her personal drive to reach 1.5m new homes.

“I’ve set that target,” she told MPs, “and most people say this is ridiculous we cannot make that target.

“Even with the 1.5m homes target, which is a stretch target, the whole of Cabinet is determined [to hit it].

“I don’t lose, I hate losing. I’ve always been underestimated my whole life and I’m determined personally not to lose this fight.”

The Deputy Prime Minister sought to assuage concerns that there would not be enough infrastructure to support the new homes, describing it as the “rightful challenge”.

“What’s happened in the past is houses have been built but the infrastructure has not been built,” she explained, saying this was both down to issues with developer levies and government action.

“They have to see that the infrastructure is going alongside it [the housing].

“As a government we’re looking at GPs, hospitals and dentistry, we know there are already pressures on those areas.

“We are making sure schools and other facilities are built, and [there is] transport connectivity.”

Ms Rayner added that the “infrastructure is critical as well as the target of 1.5m homes”.

The Deputy Prime Minister also announced that the Government wants to bring forward legislation on leasehold properties this year, including making “commonhold the default position”.

Committee chair Florence Eshalomi asked Ms Rayner why leasehold reform was not highlighted as one of her department’s priorities on social media at the start of the year.

“A big omission on the to-do list was leasehold reform,” she said.

“For so many leaseholders up and down the country, that dream of owning their own home has actually turned into a nightmare.

“When will leaseholders see reform coming forward or will they have to wait another year?”

Mr Rayner responded: “Leasehold has been a significant problem, it’s a problem that we’ve inherited.”

Ahead of the last general election, the Tory government passed the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill which would make it much easier and cheaper for property owners to extend their lease or buy the freehold.

It would also require transparency over service charges, which are largely unregulated.

Ms Rayner told MPs “there were big gaps in that bill which were quite complex”, and claimed it did not actually apply to blocks of flats.

“We want to make sure we’re moving at pace, we want to take that forward as quickly as possible, but we want to make sure there aren’t unintended consequences,” she said.

The Deputy Prime Minister also reiterated Labour’s manifesto commitment to replace leasehold buildings with a new commonhold classification, which would give more rights to homeowners.

When asked by Ms Eshalomi on a timeline, Ms Rayner said: “We want to do that within this year, bring forward the legislation.”