Labour councils show the way to tackle housing crisis – building 50% more homes than Tories

● Affordable house-building at a 24-year low under Tory Government
● Rough sleeping doubled since 2010

Labour councils have out-built Tory councils by an average of nearly 1000 new homes since 2010, new research released by Labour reveals.

House of Commons Library analysis, commissioned by Labour, shows that in Conservative-led local authority areas there were 1,679 new homes built on average between 2010 and 2016, while Labour councils built 2,577 on average – more than 50% more homes. Liberal Democrat-led areas have an equally poor record – building just 1,660.

The figures will come as a further blow to ministers, as they try to defend their housing record ahead of the general election.

The latest statistics from the Department of Communities and Local Government show that housebuilding is falling, with just 140,660 new homes built in 2016, compared to 142,600 the year before.

Meanwhile affordable housebuilding is at a 24 year low, there are 200,000 fewer home-owners since 2010, and rough sleeping has more than doubled.

The new figures were released alongside a new report, edited by Shadow Secretary of State for Housing John Healey MP, showcasing the innovative work that Labour councils are doing on housing around the country.
Local Housing Innovations: The Best of Labour in Power profiles 20 Labour councils at the leading edge in building new homes for first time buyers, cutting homelessness, investing in super-energy efficient homes and delivering new council housing.

Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, John Healey MP, said:

“After seven years of failure the Conservatives have no plan to fix the housing crisis, in which house-building fell to its lowest peacetime rate since the 1920s. From falling home-ownership to rising homelessness, Britain has a desperate housing crisis and needs many more good homes.

“These new figures show that Labour in power means building more homes for local people.

“Tory Ministers talk about getting Britain building but their own local councils are lagging behind.

Commenting on his new Local Housing Innovations report, John Healey MP said:

“Labour doesn’t just build more, we build better too. Labour councils across the country are pulling out all the stops to help people with the day-to-day housing pressures they face.”

On a visit to Harlow tomorrow, Jeremy Corbyn, Leader of the Labour Party, will say:

“Britain faces a housing crisis, with runaway rents and unaffordable housing. The system is rigged, with housing treated as an investment for the few, not homes for the many.

Seven years of Conservative failure, with homebuilding at the lowest levels since the 1920s, shows that they will never fix the housing crisis, which is holding so many people back.

Labour councils build more homes than Conservative ones. The next Labour government will build a million homes, at least half of them council homes, so that we build a Britain for the many not the few.”