Feisty Rayner Ups Ambitious Housing Target 20%
Some manifesto pledges Labour made are just not going to happen. Miliband’s pledge to totally decarbonise electricity supply by 2030 is away with the fairies. Expect that to be revised by reality soon.
The other ambitious pre-election pledge was the pledge to build 1.5 million homes by the next election. 300,000-a-year, or 25,000-a-month. Today the 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. The target for new homes is now 1.85 million homes within five years – more than 30,000-a-month. Last quarter there were 22,310 housing starts nationally. To meet their target they will have to quadruple the pace of building. It is doable if the government has the will to drive it whatever the cost in terms of votes…
Was this increase triggered by the taunts of Kemi Badenoch? Kemi wickedly identified that it won’t be easy:
🔥 @KemiBadenoch gives Angela Rayner and Labour a reality check. pic.twitter.com/VtNlZugK4k
— Conservatives (@Conservatives) July 19, 2024
In the UK, a house or a flat is counted as started on the date work begins on the laying of the foundation. The figures are released quarterly, economists expect some 50,000 starts this quarter. Rayner will need to accelerate that dramatically, press releases are easy to send, laying bricks is much harder. Guido wishes them well, we’ll be tracking how they are doing on making that target every quarter…
