SHOCK: Only half of 1.5m new homes under Labour ‘for private sale’
New figures show that only around 50% of the homes planned by Keir Starmer's Labour Government will go on the open housing market.
Only half of the new homes built under the Labour Government will be for private sale, it has emerged.
New figures from Savills and the National Housing Federation (NHF) show that of the more than 1.5 million houses planned over the next five years, around 750,000 will be for social housing tenants.
Miss the target
Savills and the NHF say up to 150,000 homes could be built each year and sold on the open market, with the other half probably build-to-rent, as well as council and grant-funded affordable homes.
And the Home Builders Federation (HBF) said the Government will miss its target for the first two years of its term, and that it will have to build 350,000 to 400,000 in later years.
Fall in short term
Jacqui Daly, Director Residential Research at Savills, told the Daily Telegraph the trajectory for housebuilding “looks like it will fall in the short-term”.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said: “We desperately need more homes which is why we have laid out clear plans to fix our broken housing system and deliver 1.5 million houses in the next five years.
“This will include many more homes for private buyers and the biggest affordable house building boost in a generation.”
Target increased
Within weeks of winning power in July, Labour increased its housing target for new homes to up to 1.85 million homes within five years.
Deputy Prime Minister and Housing Secretary Angela Rayner told MPs the Government planned to oversee building of 370,000 homes every year, up 70,000 from the figure Labour promised in the General Election.
Why is this a shock? The letting industry, councils, pressure groups and tenants have been saying for years now that building social housing will alleviate housing shortage.
What is more likely however is that liebor will never get anywhere near the build targets that they keep shouting about, so it is irrelevant as to what proportion are private/social properties.