Housing
Why Labour?
Labour believes everyone should have access to a secure, decent and affordable home in the area where they want to live. Through the recession, we took the decision to invest an additional £1.5bn in building more affordable homes, and protecting jobs and skills in the construction industry. As part of that investment, we’re making government money available to councils and we now have underway the biggest council house building programme for two decades.
We have supported homeowners in the face of the recession – taking action to help people experiencing financial difficulties to stay in their homes. Because of our actions the current repossession rate is running at half that of the last recession, when in 1991 alone over 75,000 households lost their home. The Council for Mortgage Lenders has confirmed that the total number of repossessions for 2009 was 46,000 – almost 30,000 less than the 75,000 figure originally forecast.
Key achievements:
- We have invested £21 billion in improving social housing - fitting over 700,000 new kitchens, 525,000 new bathrooms and over 1 million new central heating systems, turning round the £19 billion maintenance backlog left by the Tories in 1997.
- Since 1997 we have helped over 130,000 first time buyers own their own home through shared ownership or with equity loans.
- Over three quarters of all new homes are now built on previously developed brownfield land, up from 56 per cent in 1997.
- Labour has reduced the number of rough sleepers from 1,850 in 1998, to 464 in 2009.
- Our extra housing investment during the recession has created 45,000 jobs and 3,000 apprenticeships for young people.
- We have given the go-ahead to the first wave of four new Eco-Towns, which will set the highest ever standard of green living in Britain
A future fair for all:
- Thanks to our extra investment in housing, we are building 112,000 additional affordable homes this year and next.
- We are dismantling the centralised funding system for social housing, so that in future councils will keep all their rent and sales income, allowing them to freely build and improve council housing again.
- We have extended the stamp duty holiday on properties under £175,000 to the end of 2009.
- We have set a goal that from 2016 all new homes should be zero carbon.
- We are putting in place arrangements to allow local authorities and housing associations to start delivering a new generation of social housing.
- In Budget 2009, we announced a £600 million funding package to build more homes through unlocking sites currently sitting dormant.