Andy Burnham has outlined plans for what he described as the biggest council housebuilding programme since the post-war period as part of his first major speech since announcing his bid to become the next prime minister.
Speaking in Manchester, Burnham also unveiled proposals for a “No 10 North” – an extended operation based in the city that he said would help shift decision-making away from Westminster and towards the Midlands, the North, the South West and the East of England.
Housing featured prominently in the speech, with Burnham pledging to make the delivery of new council homes a central part of his programme if he enters Downing Street.
Burnham said: “Britain has lost almost 1.5m council homes since the 1980s, and around the same number of people are now on housing waiting lists and have been there for a very long time.”
“Britain’s housing crisis is having a ruinous impact on its public finances. So working with local areas, No 10 North will oversee the biggest council housebuilding programme since the post-war period.”
The proposal would seek to reduce development costs by making greater use of vacant public land while prioritising higher-density housing in towns and urban centres across the UK.
Burnham said No 10 North would also focus on regeneration, reindustrialisation and reform of essential public utilities as part of a broader programme to rebalance economic growth across the country.
Chief executive of Shelter, Sarah Elliott, believes Burnham’s council housebuilding could “utterly transform” Britain.
She said: “Andy Burnham is right on the money here. Any government that is serious about fixing life’s foundations must start by delivering a new generation of social rent homes and strengthening the arm of councils to get building.”
“Council-built social homes once provided a stable basis for millions of people across the country to get on in life and succeed. Politicians have ignored this fact for far too long, while people’s hope dwindled away and our supply of genuinely affordable social rent homes fell through the floor.”
“Delivering the biggest council housebuilding programme since the post-war period has the potential to utterly transform our country and restore the building blocks of people’s lives. To make this vision a reality, the government must set councils up to build by removing unsustainable debt and delivering a big boost to investment.”
Responding to Burnham’s speech, Dr David Crosthwaite, chief economist at BCIS, said: “Andy Burnham’s commitment to a major council house building programme was perhaps the clearest proposal for the construction industry.
“However, the government is already working towards an ambitious target of delivering 1.5 million new homes during this Parliament, and recent figures show England remains well behind the pace required to achieve that ambition.
“In his speech, Burnham set out what he wants to build, but not who will build it, how it will be funded, or what would enable a significantly faster rate of delivery than the industry is currently achieving.
“More broadly, his speech was stronger on changing how decisions are made than on creating the conditions that encourage construction investment. Greater devolution may help local authorities bring forward projects that better reflect regional priorities, but additional powers alone do not drive construction activity.
“Projects only move forward when developers, investors and public sector clients have the confidence and resources to commit to them, which depends not only on governance structures, but also on funding, viability and the cost environment facing the sector.
“Notably absent was any acknowledgement of the near-term cost pressures facing businesses. Labour costs remain the primary driver of construction project costs, and the employer National Insurance increases introduced by the current government have added to the burden on supply chains.
“The construction industry will be watching to see whether Burnham’s leadership pitch produces bold new thinking or simply repackages existing commitments.”
Nathan Emerson, CEO at Propertymark, added: “Propertymark welcomes ambitions that place housing at the heart of UK Government policy. Ensuring the right homes are built in the right places at the right time is essential to help meet the needs of an ever-growing population.
“Alongside social and council housing, continued investment in homes for private ownership and in the private rented sector is also vital to ensure the needs of a diverse housing market are fully met and that the promise to deliver 1.5 million affordable and sustainable homes in England by 2029 is fulfilled.
“At the same time, any major housing reform must be carefully scrutinised to ensure it achieves all intended outcomes. Greater local control could help support a more responsive overall decision-making process that better reflects regional housing needs moving forward.”
