Prime minister doubles down on ‘ambitious’ 1.5 million homes target

Sir Keir said that housing has “a massive impact” on growth and the government has started delivering on planning reform.

He said: “On the 1.5 million homes, it is ambitious, it’s huge, this hasn’t been done for decades and decades, but we’re going to do it and we’re going to go for it.

“That’s why we’re going to take the difficult decisions. The reasons it hasn’t been done is because people are too scared to take the planning decisions that were necessary; they talked the talk but didn’t walk the walk… Yes, it’s ambitious and I’ve said candidly it won’t be met if we don’t turbocharge this.

“We can do this, and we’re going to do this. It’ll be an incredible thing for so many people who need a roof over their heads, somewhere of their own they can own and a massive driver of our economy.”

Reaction from the sector

Kate Henderson, chief executive at the National Housing Federation, welcomed the government’s continued commitment to tackling the housing crisis, “putting housing at the heart of its growth mission”.

“A substantial boost in investment and funding for new affordable homes, particularly those for social rent, is the best way for the government to meet its 1.5 million new homes target,” she said.

“With over eight million people living in unsuitable, unaffordable homes, or homeless, housing associations are ready to work with the government to deliver the homes this country desperately needs. However, the impact of decades of cuts and rent caps, together with increased spending on repairs and building safety, is impacting the ability to build new homes.

“Ahead of the upcoming Spending Review, we are calling on government to introduce a package of measures to support the social housing sector to rebuild capacity including increased funding for new and existing social homes, as part of a new long-term housing strategy.”

Rachael Williamson, interim director of policy, communications and external affairs at the Chartered Institute of Housing, said that it is good to see the government’s recognition of housing as “a vital driver of economic growth” in its Plan for Change.

She said that to achieve the government’s ambitious target of 1.5 million new homes, drive up quality and tackle the housing crisis, the forthcoming Spending Review must prioritise “meaningful investment” in housing across all tenures, especially social housing.

Ms Williamson said: “This commitment should be matched by a robust and detailed cross-government policy framework within the anticipated housing strategy, ensuring the right homes are built in the right places and supported by critical infrastructure. Alongside this, we need measures to support people in need now, who cannot wait for new homes to be built.

“We look forward to working with the government to turn these ambitions into reality for communities across the country.”

Melanie Leech, chief executive of the British Property Federation, said the Plan for Change is a “welcome statement” of the government’s housing, infrastructure and planning ambitions.

She added: “Governments have for many years termed our lack of housing as a ‘crisis’. It is therefore right that the government is ambitious in the number of homes it wants to deliver, but acutely conscious of the challenges that it will encounter.

“Ensuring we have efficient, well-resourced local planning authorities is one critical factor. A truly multi-tenure approach to housing delivery is another.

“The government has gripped the nettle of planning reform in ensuring each local council has a local plan in place, which is welcome. If we are to deliver 1.5 million homes, however, further measures will be necessary to increase the pool of skilled labour, upscale the materials we need to build homes and ensure more land, including public land, is available for housing delivery.”

Ms Leech also said there will need to be funding that addresses both access to mortgages, as well as public and private investment in affordable and market rental housing.

She said: “The government will need to be bold. For example, providing a truly long-term rent settlement would attract more private sector investment into affordable housing. We look forward to supporting the government’s commitment to get more homes funded and built.”

Paul Rickard, managing director of Pocket Living, welcomed the prime minister’s restatement of his ambition to deliver 1.5 million homes. “However, while the government is making good progress on reforming the planning system, we believe that more needs to be done to support and encourage those most likely, and most quickly, able to build the new homes we need,” he said.

“This must include bold action to bolster the SME housebuilding industry – including through SME delivery targets for Homes England, alongside dedicated and flexible support for SMEs – greater access to public land opportunities, and continuing to streamline and prioritise the planning process for small residential development sites delivering affordable homes.”