Government announces plan for a long-term housing strategy

Angela Rayner, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government has set out the first major steps in the new government’s plan to ‘build the homes this country needs’.

Rayners speech to the House of Commons set out planning reforms, reintroduced mandatory housing targets and acknowledged the need for stability in social housing rent policy.

She stated that the government would be announcing plans to ensure stability around social rents, and committed to setting out details of future government investment in social and affordable housing as part of the next spending review.

Rayner said “We are in the middle of the most acute housing crisis in living memory. Home ownership is out of reach for too many; the shortage of houses drives high rents; and too many are left without access to a safe and secure home.

That is why today I have set out reforms to fix the foundations of our housing and planning system, taking the tough choices needed to improve affordability, turbocharge growth and build the 1.5 million homes we have committed to deliver over the next five years.”