Conservative Government can’t even get homes built on the land that it owns – John Healey

Thursday, 2 May 2019 13:25

John Healey MP, Labour’s Shadow Housing Secretary, responding to the National Audit Office’s judgement on the failure of the Government’s programme to build homes on public land, said: “This is pitiful. If this Conservative Government can’t even get homes built on the land that it owns, then there is no hope that Ministers can fix our country’s housing crisis. “The homes that are being built on former public sites are...Request free trial

John Healey MP, Labour’s Shadow Housing Secretary, responding to the National Audit Office’s judgement on the failure of the Government’s programme to build homes on public land, said:

“This is pitiful. If this Conservative Government can’t even get homes built on the land that it owns, then there is no hope that Ministers can fix our country’s housing crisis.

“The homes that are being built on former public sites are too few and too expensive, with housing built on former NHS land that nurses can’t afford to live in.

“Labour will ensure that public land is used for public benefit, setting up an English Sovereign Land Trust to spearhead our plan to build a million genuinely affordable homes.”

Ends

Notes to editors:

· The National Audit Office has today responded to the Government’s latest update on public land disposal for new homes, by confirming the Government is set to miss its central target by a huge margin. The NAO says: “The Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government expects departments to have released enough land for around 65,000 (41%) homes by 2020, against a target of at least 160,000… The government currently does not expect to reach the 160,000 target until after 2025.”

· The Government’s ‘Public Land for Housing Programme 2015-2020: Progress Report’, also published today, is available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/799129/Public_Land_for_Housing_Programme_2015_20_Progress_Report.pdf

· Previous research on the Government’s land disposal programme has revealed that, of the homes to be built for sale on NHS land, four out of five will be unaffordable to a nurse on an average salary: https://neweconomics.org/2018/01/no-homes-for-nurses.

· Labour’s plans to ensure public land is used for public benefit, and to set up an English Sovereign Land Trust, are contained in Labour’s ‘Housing for the Many’ Green Paper, which sets a target of building a million genuinely affordable homes over ten years: http://labour.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Housing-for-the-Many-final.pdf.