We have been providing information on the Labour Leadership candidates’ views on housing. Jeremy Corbyn MP replied to a London LHG questionnaire and we published his responses last week. Yesterday we published the housing section of Andy Burnham MP‘s manifesto. Today we are publishing contributions made to the latest Labour Housing Group newsletter from Yvette Cooper MP (below) and Liz Kendall MP (to follow in the next post).
We hope this helps members and supporters who put housing high on their list of key issues to make up their mind about who to support.
“We should be building 300,000 new homes a year….. I have shown I can deliver on housing.”
Statement on housing by Yvette Cooper
Britain needs more houses and it needs them now. Governments have been ducking the issue of housebuilding for too long. Every day that we delay, the crisis just gets worse and worse. It is one of the most serious challenges for Britain’s future and we can’t keep putting our heads in the sand.
Last year net housing supply was a pathetic 136,610. This Government has failed on housebuilding.
When I was Labour Housing Minister, we had the highest annual level of net housing supply in the last thirty years – wih over 207,000 net additions. I can build houses. I want to build on this record. We have to be far more ambitious if Britain is to have the homes that families need.
We should be building 300,000 new homes a year – a bolder plan. It will take ambition, determination and tough decisions. Enough with excuses, we’ve got to drive this through and if you stick at it, you can.
Today too many people are simply priced out of the housing market. Everyone wants a secure and affordable home to put down roots or support their family. We need to have clear plans to help first time buyers. Building more houses is cental to this.
The failure in housebuilding is holding back our economy, undermining communities and family life – we need a much bolder plan. I have shown I can deliver on housing.
Yvette Cooper MP
(first published in the Labour Housing Group newsletter @LabourHousing)