Lisa Nandy MP, Labour's Shadow Levelling Up & Housing
Secretary, responding to suggestions from Michael Gove that the
Conservatives are dropping their pledge to build 300,000 homes a
year in England by the mid-2020s, said: “Another day, another
broken promise. "Under the Conservatives housing has become less
affordable, spending on rent has sky-rocketed, and homeownership
has gone down. All this puts more pressure on families facing a
cost of living crisis. ...Request free trial
Lisa Nandy MP, Labour's Shadow Levelling Up
& Housing Secretary, responding to suggestions from
Michael Gove that the Conservatives are
dropping their pledge to build 300,000 homes a year in England by
the mid-2020s, said:
“Another day, another broken promise.
"Under the Conservatives housing has become less affordable,
spending on rent has sky-rocketed, and homeownership has gone
down. All this puts more pressure on families facing a cost of
living crisis.
“The Conservatives can no longer claim to be the party of
homeownership. We need a government that will take action now to
help people who are struggling with rising bills and prices, and
that will invest to give them the long-term security of owning
their own home.”
Ends
Notes to editors:
Housing has become less affordable is every region of England
since the Conservatives came to power in 2010, with an
acceleration in unaffordability since Boris Johnson became Prime
Minister.
Analysis by the Labour Party of Official for National
Statistics data has found
that house prices in England grew at almost three times
the rate of wages between 2010 and 2021. Median house prices
rose 56% while earnings grew just 20%. Since 2019, house
prices have risen at over eight times the rate of
wages.
Meanwhile, private renters in England are now paying almost
£50 billion a year in rent, an increase of £11 billion a year
since 2010.
Under the Conservatives, the cost of renting has risen faster
than inflation in every region of England:
Region
Number of privately renting households
(i)
Average monthly rents in 2010-11
(ii)
Average monthly rents in 2020-21
(iii)
Increase in monthly rents between 2010-11 &
2020-21
Increase in monthly rents between 2010-11 &
2020-21 (%)
Increase in yearly rents between 2010-11 &
2020-21
Homeownership is also falling under the Conservatives.
Analysis by Labour of English Housing survey data found that
211,000 fewer people of working age were homeowners in 2020-21,
than in 2009-10.
In the same period rates of private renting have shot up,
with 955,000 more people between the ages of 16 and 64 now
renting, a rise of 31% on 2010 levels.
Unlike the Conservatives, who see housing as a commodity to
be traded and profited from, Labour believes in homeownership as
the bedrock of security and prosperity for families.
In government, Labour will build more affordable homes; set a
new definition of ‘affordable’ linked to local wages; give
first-time buyers first dibs on new developments; close loopholes
that let developers wriggle out of commitments; and demand that
developers use land where planning permission has been
granted.
