Labour unveils affordable housing and Help to Buy plans in manifesto

In its manifesto, published today, Labour has pledged to be building at an annual rate of at least 150,000 council and social homes by the end of parliament.

The party also plans to launch new discount homes for first-time buyers with prices linked to local incomes, as well giving local people 'first dibs' on new homes and reforming Help to Buy to focus it on "first-time buyers on ordinary incomes".

The manifesto also laid out plans to give councils new powers to tax properties empty for over a year, to end the sale of new leasehold properties and abolish Right to Buy.

Labour says it will scrap the Conservatives' definition of 'affordable', set as high as 80% of market rents, and replace it with a definition linked to local incomes.

For private renters, Labour says it would protect private renters through rent controls, open-ended tenancies, and new, binding minimum standards.

Joseph Daniels, founder of modular developer Project Etopia, commented: “By going after landbanking developers and focusing on the crucial element of land supply, Labour have really shown they are determined to look properly at the real causes behind periodic declines in housebuilding.

“This is what the industry needs, far more than housebuilding pledges that lack any real roadmap for how they will be delivered, which is what we’ve seen from parties in the past. Talk is often cheap and the industry is crying out for meaningful change to allow developers to unlock land and bring it forward for development. If this is acheived the country could see a real turning point in public policy to help solve the housing crisis."