Labour Milestones Review: How is the Government doing on housing?

Labour’s return to power in last year’s election (their first win since 2005) came with a strong mandate to deliver meaningful change. Central to Labour’s manifesto was a commitment to build 1.5 million new homes, alongside immediate reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). The party also promised a generational investment in social housing and long-overdue reforms to fix the broken leasehold system and the private rented sector. Framing the new approach, Angela Rayner stated that ‘this Labour Government are on the side of the builders, not the blockers’—a clear signal of intent to move beyond the planning inertia and delivery shortfalls seen in recent years.

The Government’s flagship policy on housing was its pledge to build 1.5 million homes in this Parliament. While deemed a ‘stretch’ by Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook, shortly after the election, the Government established a New Homes Accelerator to take direct action on individual sites. This was later backed by the creation of a new National Housing Bank. Central to delivery has been reforming the planning system: restoring housing targets via an updated NPPF, reallocating poor-quality ‘grey belt’ land, and requiring councils to maintain a five-year land supply and an up-to-date local plan. Further measures in the Planning and Infrastructure Bill aim to modernise planning committees, delegate more decisions to officers, and streamline approvals for Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIPs). To boost capacity, 300 additional planning officers are also being recruited. In addition to this, more support has been provided for SME builders through establishing a new ‘medium site’ category with reduced planning rules, and establishing a Small Sites Aggregator to unlock small sites which otherwise would not be developed.

However, planning reform alone won’t be enough. Industry leaders have consistently warned that without a significantly larger construction workforce, housing targets will remain out of reach. According to the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB), the sector needs to recruit around 47,860 additional workers each year between 2025 and 2029—amounting to nearly 240,000 new workers over five years. The Home Builders Federation (HBF), alongside major developers like Barratt Redrow, point to skills shortages, an ageing workforce, and the effects of Brexit as key challenges behind the shrinking labour pool.

In response, the Government has acknowledged a ‘dire shortage’ of construction workers and introduced a series of measures to address it. These include the creation of Skills England, a new national body focused on tackling skills gaps; a £600m investment in construction training; and the launch of a Construction Skills Mission Board with an ambition to recruit 100,000 new workers annually. While these initiatives signal a clear intent to turn the tide, many in the industry are waiting to see whether they will translate into meaningful change on the ground.

As mentioned, all of these commitments signal serious intent—but tracking their progress and ensuring their delivery will be key to turning policy into real change. It could also be argued that more needs to be done to make the political case that these changes will genuinely improve voters’ lives. Beyond boosting supply, the Government is also battling with deep-rooted challenges across the housing system. From tackling poor-quality existing stock—particularly in social housing and high-rise blocks—to rolling out the Warm Homes Plan, addressing homelessness, and reforming outdated rental and leasehold laws through the Renters’ Rights Bill, the scale of the task ahead remains vast.