Angela Rayner is rolling out another £350 million to fund 2,800 extra affordable homes as part of Labour’s plan to build 1.5 million homes this parliament. Housing Minister Alex Norris made the morning media rounds to sell the announcement—but the policy already looks to be built on shaky foundations. Norris struggled when pressed on whether Labour has even made a dent in its target to build 130,000 new homes by 2026. Asked on Times Radio how many had been started, he admitted:
“I couldn’t give you the figure on that because, as I say, that’s a target for next year and one that’s going to be met… It’s an anchor part of our plan for change and we’re going to deliver it.”
Not exactly a rock-solid assurance. Meanwhile, Skills Minister Baroness Smith conceded there aren’t enough construction workers to meet the 300,000 homes-a-year target. With cash-strapped social housing providers and tougher regulations on developers, a third of builders say they’ll be lucky to hit half that number, according to a Knight Frank survey. Many developers are now considering cutting back on affordable housing to make projects viable. Labour’s “stretching target” is already looking more like a pipe dream than a blueprint for success…
Sarah Pochin at Reform Scotland’s manifesto launch event: “I really wanted to come on in a Reform tartan burka, but apparently I wasn’t allowed… One day let’s do one of these events not live-streamed. We’ll do all the naughty stuff…”