Labour attacks Tories’ housebuilding record

Labour has kicked off the countdown to the snap election by attacking the Tories’ housebuilding record.

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

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.

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.

On a visit to Harlow tomorrow, Jeremy Corbyn, Leader of the Labour Party, said, “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.

“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.”