How many new homes could the next government build each year?

Immediately, UK voters wanted to see and hear about the new government’s first set of plans – across the board. Here, at ABC+ Warranty, we were keen to find out Labour’s housing target across the nation.

Why? Because the UK is facing a housing crisis. Read on to find out about government housing failures and the new targets for the future.

How bad is the UK housing crisis?

According to the National Housing Federation, around 8.5 million people are in immediate housing need, and there are 1.2 million households on waiting lists.

As things stand, waiting lists are increasing by 50% each year, signalling a real issue across the nation – and supply has certainly not met demand in recent years.

Of the 240,000 homes built between 2022 and 2023, only 41,000 were for affordable or social rent. Plus, accounting for 16,000 homes sold through the Right to Buy or Acquire schemes, the net number of affordable rented homes built in this period was just 25,000.

If the UK continued on this projection, it would take 48 years to clear the current level of waiting lists (not accounting for increases).

Previous government housing targets failure

The previous government – run by the Conservative Party – acknowledged the lack of housing for those in need, and estimated that 300,000 new homes had to be built each year.

However, the UK has not been able to build that many homes in one year since the 1970s, and that number was only possible because around 150,000 were council houses.

Currently, councils are only building 4000 homes per year, meaning there has to be an enormous change in direction and focus to deliver the target figures.

In 2019, the Conservatives claimed they had a target of building 1 million homes and achieving 300,000 per year by the mid-2020s. However, Channel 4 fact-checkers believe they fell short of that figure, despite the government stating they’d succeeded.

As there are currently no figures for 2023-24, it’s believed they missed their target having only averaged 234,000 new homes per year up to 2022-23.

Indeed, a report from the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (LUHC) Committee stated that housebuilding would end up dropping down to 150,000 new homes per year under the Conservative government’s proposed policy reforms.

What are Labour’s government housing targets?

As the Labour Party are inheriting a housing crisis, they must have a plan to turn things around quickly.

The new Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, has already spoken publicly about the need for new homes, stating that the UK’s “antiquated planning system” has left “important projects tied up for years and years in red tape before shovels even get in the ground”.

She added: “Alongside the deputy prime minister, I am taking immediate action to deliver this Labour government’s mission to kick-start economic growth and to take the urgent steps necessary to build the infrastructure that we need, including one-and-a-half million homes in the next five years.”

A target of 1.5 million homes would suggest Labour think 300,000 new homes per year is achievable.

How will Labour hit their government housing targets?

The deputy prime minister and levelling up secretary, Angela Rayner, together with planning minister, Matthew Pennycook, will lead a review of the boundaries of the green belt.

The Chancellor, Ms Reeves, has confirmed that Labour will set up a team of experts to ‘accelerate stalled housing sites’, with projects starting in Sutton Coldfield, Liverpool and Worcestershire.

Also, 300 planning officers will be appointed across the country to support local authorities.

Housing targets summary

While Labour’s goals of reaching 1.5 million new homes over the next five years are optimistic, there does – at least – seem to be work going into it with clear early steps already being stated publicly.

With the UK in dire need of new, affordable homes, this particular aspect of Labour’s leadership will, no doubt, come under intense scrutiny over the next few months.

If you’d like to go back and review the Labour Party’s manifesto promises before the General Election, you can read their housing policies on our website.

If you have any questions about housing, don’t hesitate to contact us today. One of our experts will be happy to help.