2 hours ago

Sam FrancisPolitical reporter

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Housing Secretary Steve Reed has admitted there will need to be a sharp surge in housebuilding to meet Labour’s promise to build 1.5 million new homes.

The government is currently forecast to narrowly miss its target, after the number of new homes started fell from 207,000 to 139,000 after Labour took office - the lowest since the Covid-19 pandemic.

Reed said he expected the government to "just meet" its target once the impact of planning reforms take hold, including new targets and some building on former green belt land.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s new Housing Britain series, Reed said ministers were "pulling every lever" to hit the target by 2029, when the next general election is expected.

Reed, who took over the housing brief three months ago from Angela Rayner, said the government "always" expected "the big increase to come in the latter part of this parliament".

"I’ve heard it described as a hockey stick, you know, because it is a relatively gentle increase until it shoots up towards the end," he said.

Reed insisted the government had already "put in place huge changes" to increase housebuilding, such as the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, currently in its final stages in Parliament, which he said would "dramatically speed up" decision‑making.

A major part of the plan is to make it easier to approve homes near public transport, which Reed claimed "could be worth a million" homes on its own.

Earlier this month, the government also announced plans to shake up the house-buying system to speed up sales and save first-time buyers money.

The government’s spending watchdog, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), predicts 1.49 million net additional dwellings will be built during Labour’s period in office - 10,000 lower than the government’s target.

The OBR says the supply of new housing is due to hit a low of 215,000 next year, but it predicts net additions rising sharply to 305,000 in 2029-30, before the next general election.

Just before last week’s Budget, the Home Builders Federation (HBF) warned the government would have to go further to hit its target.

The organisation, which says its members are responsible for building 80% of new homes in England and Wales, said there needed to be more help for first time buyers while attacking a landfill-tax rise it says adds £14,000 to each build.

Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook told BBC Radio 4’s Housing Britain the government chose an "ambitious" housing target on purpose.

Speaking to the i Paper’s housing correspondent Vicky Spratt, who presents the four part series, he said "anything less would have been seen as unambitious in the context of the housing crisis we face".

The figure of 1.5 million new homes "was a stretching enough target to get the sector geared up and moving", he argued.

Despite the high target, Labour would ensure a "high and sustainable" rate of building rather than a short‑term "sugar rush", he argued.

Pennycook said ministers would end reliance on big developers and put councils "seriously back in the game" alongside small and medium‑sized builders.

***You can listen to the interview with Steve Reed and Matthew Pennycook on the first episode of Housing Britain on Monday at 11.00 on BBC Radio 4 or on ***BBC Sounds.