Housing secretary Steve Reed has launched his tenure with a vow to ‘build, baby, build’ and a commitment to ‘leaving no stone unturned’ in the pursuit of meeting the government’s target to build 1.5 million new homes.
In what was described as ‘a call to arms’ in a government statement, Reed and housing minister Matthew Pennycook committed to working in partnership with industry leaders to ramp up housebuilding and overcome the remaining barriers to meeting the ambitious target.
In a meeting with developers and housebuilders, Reed committed to accelerating plans to unleash what the government said is ‘one of the largest eras for building in history’.
‘I want us to build, baby, build, so we can put the key to a decent home into the hands of every single family that needs it’, Reed told the assembled industry leaders.
“We are doubling down on our plans to unleash one of the biggest eras of building in our country’s history and we are backing the builders all the way.”
As part of the next phase of ensuring delivery of the new homes, Reed said he will tackle ‘complex planning processes’ the government said stand in the way of meeting homebuilding targets.
“Through major planning reform and investment, we will break down the barriers to development and build the 1.5 million homes this country needs as part of our Plan for Change.”
The ‘call to arms’ was issued ahead of a series of additional measures expected to be announced in the coming weeks and months, including new towns across the countryand the Planning and Infrastructure Bill passing into law.
‘The landmark Planning and Infrastructure Bill is another way the government is working at pace to meet its 1.5 million homes target, speeding up building whilst protecting and enhancing the environment, and not at the expense of local say’, the government said in a statement.
“Since entering office, the government has also unblocked almost 100,000 homes through the New Homes Accelerator, pumped millions of pounds into councils unlocking disused brownfield land, and invested a huge £39 billion into the new Social and Affordable Homes Programme.”
The housing secretary met the developers and housebuilders before travelling to a housing site in Bedfordshire, where he ‘witnessed first hand the best ways to move forward and speed up building at sites up and down the country’. Discussion s at the meeting included upcoming planning reforms, how the government can help remove barriers to development and what government can do to get spades in the ground quicker.
Image credit: Steven Reed ©House of Commons, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0
3 responses
When politicians come out with these type of statements you need to drill down into what is really happening.
It is the hallmark of this administration that it is technically incompetent. The previous government was also technically incompetent.
Developers are in despair as are town planners with the government’s actions to date.
Much of the implementation of government policy originates in the Ministry of Housing where teams are working on every aspect of housing policy. These civil servants often work in a veil of ignorance, which means they don’t listen to the experts at the coalface.
Two good examples are the Building Safety Act and the recent surprise announcement to abolish upwards only rent reviews.
The other fundamental issue is that governments do NOT build houses.
What are the government doing about those trapped in unsafe homes? Is it not better to focus on having the ability to be able to buy and sell those properties? Today’s Conveyancer where is your investigative journalism? or is this simply an advertising platform?
We are going to end up with an even bigger building safety crisis. Not to mention that existing buildings are asking to be remediated to current standards. We are going to end up with 1.5 milllion more homes that are unsafe, have corners cut by the construction industry no doubt aided by savvy law firms who know how to frame contracts so the buyer can be left with half built homes, building regulations certificates which have materialised but then subsequently found out that they don’t meet standards. Homes that will be lucky to pass the 60 years mark. Who do you think is telling the truth here?
Sir Keir Starmer has not even been able to help one of his constituents who bought a newbuild flat for over £800k – he has been passed from pillar to post between the developer and the warranty provider. Surely everyone should be entitled to redress without being dragged to court where you have purchased in a building that is unsafe?
https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/society/2025/06/britains-new-build-nightmare-housing-crisis
The policiticians need to pass through legislation the Earl of Lytton’s Building Safety Remediation Scheme. https://buildingsafetyscheme.org/
This appears to be the only sensisble solution on the table. It wouldn’t have to be in legislation if the people who built our homes could be trusted.
yes lets get more villages turned to towns, more communities divided, people who are lifelong residents pushed out of their areas and flood, flood, flood.