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These figures confirm housebuilding hasn’t returned to pre-financial crisis levels - John Healey

Thursday, 16 November 2017 10:30

John Healey MP, Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, responding to new statistics on net additions to the housing stock, said: “These figures confirm that new housebuilding still hasn’t returned to the level it was before the global financial crisis, a decade on. Any increase in new housing is welcome but in any other area of public policy this record of failure would be cause for resignation, not celebration. “Meanwhile...Request free trial

John Healey MP, Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, responding to new statistics on net additions to the housing stock, said:

“These figures confirm that new housebuilding still hasn’t returned to the level it was before the global financial crisis, a decade on. Any increase in new housing is welcome but in any other area of public policy this record of failure would be cause for resignation, not celebration.

“Meanwhile genuinely affordable housebuilding has fallen dramatically in the last seven years. The number of new social rented homes is at the lowest level since records began and the number of new low-cost homes to buy has halved since 2010.

“After seven years of failure on housing, Ministers still have no plan to fix the housing crisis. The Government must now back Labour’s plan to build 100,000 new genuinely affordable homes a year, help first-time buyers and give renters new consumer rights including control on rents.”

Ends

Notes to editors

New ‘net additions’ figures ‘released today show that 183,570 new homes were built in 2016/17. This is still lower than before the financial crisis, almost a decade on. In 2007/8, over 200,000 new homes were built.

Separate Department for Communities and Local Government figures for 2016/17 suggest only 163,000 new homes were built: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/639717/LiveTable208.xlsx

Since 2010, housing pressures have worsened on all fronts:

- Rough-sleeping has more than doubled: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/585706/Rough_Sleeping_Autumn_2016_Final_Tables.xls

- Home-ownership is down by 200,000: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/658479/2015-16_Section_1_Households_Annex_Tables.xlsx

-The number of new social-rented homes is at the lowest level since records began: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/657915/Live_Table_1000.xlsx

-The number of new low-cost homes to buy such as shared ownership has halved: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/657915/Live_Table_1000.xlsx

Labour’s plan to fix the housing crisis is detailed in our housing manifesto: Labour’s New Deal on Housing https://labour.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Housing-Mini-Manifesto.pdf