Rayner plans big boost to affordable housing by getting tough on builders

The next Labour government will oversee the biggest boost in affordable housing in a generation by getting tough on developers and tightening planning rules, said the party's deputy leader.

- Pippa Crerar

Angela Rayner, also the shadow housing secretary, said she wants to "increase, not decrease" the number of affordable new homes built every year, after a fall of 12% last year.

The Conservatives' overall national housing target of 300,000 a year - which they have failed to hit should be the "benchmark" of what a Labour government would deliver, she said, adding that she wanted to exceed that number.

Housing will be one of the key battlegrounds before the election, which is expected next autumn, after Rishi Sunak failed to mention it once in his speech to Tory party conference in Manchester last week.

Housebuilding in England is due to fall to its lowest level since the second world war because of a range of government policies that threaten to dramatically slow development.

The government has been mired in rows over reforming laws that protect the 10 million British people who own their homes in a leasehold and millions more who rent, as well as over nutrient neutrality rules that prevent pollution from developments.

In an interview with the Guardian before Labour's annual party conference in Liverpool, Rayner said: "Sunak has given up. He didn't push back on his backbenchers on planning reform which he knows was needed.

"Michael Gove has had to give billions of pounds back to the Treasury because he's not been able to get the affordable homes plan working. They've decided that it's in the 'too hard' box for them to do anything about it. Everyone is paying for it."