Labour Sets Out Mandatory Housing Target Of 370,000

Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner has announced a nationwide housing target of 370,000 homes per year to get "Britain building".

The new target for councils will be mandatory, Rayner told MPs on Tuesday, and will include the construction of a wide range of homes for first-time buyers and those needing council houses.

The mandatory target of 370,000 homes replaces the previous Tory government's advisory target of 300,000 homes per year.

Rayner, who is also the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, said in her House of Commons statement that fewer than 200,000 homes were built over the last 12 months, and that the country was facing "the most acute housing crisis in living history".

The Conservatives while in government tried to mandate a target of 300,000 homes per year before they were forced to scrap the plans after a backbench rebellion.

Meanwhile, reforming the planning system and increasing housing supply was central to the Labour manifesto which helped the party win a 176-seat majority on 4 July. 

"We are ambitious, and what I say won't be without controversy, but this is urgent, because this Labour government is not afraid to take on the tough choices needed to deliver for our country," Rayner told MPs this afternoon.

Rayner criticised the previous government for building too few homes in a bid to "appease their anti-housing backbenches". 

"They knew that this would tank housing supply, but they still did it," Rayner said, referring to the previous government's decision to avoid implementing mandatory housing targets. 

"These reforms are key to realising our wider growth ambitions. Part of that comes from new homes themselves, releasing untapped potential of our towns and cities that for too