Housing Secretary pledges to accelerate housebuilding as 1.5m target in doubt ...Middle East

Sitting under a banner that read “Labour YIMBY”, Labour’s new Housing Secretary Steve Reed told The i Paper that he is determined to “accelerate” the building of new homes – and single out areas that are falling behind target.

While signing hats emblazoned with the slogan “Build Baby Build”, Reed said that his “new generation of new towns” will “put the dream of homeownership back in the hands of young people”.

Reed has taken the position from Angela Rayner, Labour’s former housing secretary and deputy prime minister, who resigned at the start of the month after failing to pay enough stamp duty on a flat she bought.

In the coming weeks, Reed is expected to announce “an acceleration package” of planning reform in a bid to go further and faster than his predecessor in meeting Labour’s pledge to build 1.5 million homes over this parliamentary term – a target experts don’t believe the party can meet.

Reed told The i Paper that the package will include measures to clear a backlog of new build applications waiting up to 36 weeks for Building Safety Regulator approval – and he singled out Labour’s London Mayor Sadiq Khan for a “targeted package” to increase housebuilding in the capital.

It is a perilous time for Britain’s housing market.

Homelessness is rising, including for children. There are now more than 1.3 million households across England on social housing waiting lists. Private rents continue to rise above inflation.

“We have a housing crisis in this country, and young people in particular are finding that so much of their earnings goes to pay rent because there aren’t enough affordable places to rent and they can’t find places to buy,” Reed said.

He added that he was confident that he could hit the target of 1.5 million new homes: “I am absolutely sure [we can do it]…the prime minister has given it to me and I will be held to account.”

However, earlier this month that pledge looked likely to be broken when official data showed that planning approvals for new homes in England had fallen to a record low.

About 7,000 applications for housing were granted permission between April and June 2025 – that’s the lowest three-month figure since records began in 1979 and an 8 per cent reduction on the same three months of 2024.

Reed stood before Labour’s annual conference in Liverpool on Sunday and announced the government’s intention to build 12 new towns across England, with spades hitting the ground in three locations before the end of this parliament.

“These won’t just be rows of houses,” Reed said. “They will be whole communities with public services, green spaces and investment for jobs.”

Housing and Planning Minister Matthew Pennycook has made it clear that new towns will be delivered by development corporations with enhanced planning powers, including the ability to compulsorily purchase (CPO) land if it is in the public interest.

However, the original post-war new towns, built with the backing of Labour’s post-war prime minister, Clement Attlee, had something that Reed’s do not: huge loans from the Treasury.

Kate Henderson, Chief Executive of the National Housing Federation, which represents housing associations, told The i Paper: “We know from our research with Savills that the 1.5 million new homes target is only achievable with a significant boost to affordable and social housebuilding.”

Over the summer, Pennycook confirmed a total of £39 billion for affordable housebuilding. However, some of that funding will not be delivered within this parliament.

In London, the number of new homes completed has fallen by 12 per cent since last year.

Saying he will work with the London mayor on a “targeted package” of planning support raises the stakes for the government as they attempt to meet a housebuilding target which experts – from major housebuilders to planning barristers – have told The i Paper is “almost impossible to hit”.

They cite a skills shortage in the construction industry, inflation that has increased building costs for developers, and uncertainty that buyers – in particular first-time buyers – will be able to purchase new homes as higher interest rates are impeding affordability.

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Insiders from major lenders have said that they are nervous about Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s suggestion that people should be able to borrow larger sums against their income to get mortgages. So far, only Nationwide has committed to doing so.

Some experts approached Reed’s comments about the backlog at the Building Safety Regulator – which was set up in response to the Grenfell Tower disaster – with caution.

Peter Apps, an expert housing journalist who followed the Grenfell Inquiry and authored the books Show Me The Bodies and Homesick, said that some of the projects in the backlog “are delayed because the applicants haven’t proven they will build something safe and compliant”.

Apps added that “rushing” these applications through to boost housebuilding would repeat our past mistakes, which caused a devastating fire and left us with more than 5,000 buildings needing £16bn worth of repairs.

Reed must not put quality above quantity, the housing expert said. “Badly built buildings won’t solve the housing crisis.”

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