Five years of failure on housing revealed –the Conservatives’ failure on housing means higher rents, more homelessness, less home ownership, and fewer homes built.

Ahead of Labour Party Annual Conference, John Healey today releases a new report which outlines the scale of the Conservatives failure on housing.

The Conservatives spent the last Parliament blaming Labour. This won’t wash now. The Tories have their own track record in government – five years of failure.

The report reveals new figures which show the costs of another five years of inaction by the Conservatives. On current trends, if the Tory government’s record is repeated until 2020:

• Average deposits of £76,000 – a 20 per cent deposit will be nearly double what it was in 2010 with the average house price rising to £378,000.
  
• 508,000 fewer homeowners than in 2010 – there will be over half a million fewer homeowners in 2010 than in 2020.
  
• Renting will be £3,500 more a year, costing £11,500 annually– the cost of renting privately will have soared by 44 per cent costing £3,500 more a year than in 2010 with monthly rents at an all-time of high of £958.
  
• 74,000 families made homeless every year – the number of families being made homeless every year will have increased to 74,000, an increase of 85 per cent since 2010.

John Healey MP, Shadow Housing and Planning Minister, said:

“Ministers spent the last Parliament blaming Labour. This won’t wash now. The Tories have their own track record in government, which is five years of failure.

“Their five years of failure on housing means worry and misery for millions of people now struggling with the cost of housing crisis – higher rents, more homelessness, the lowest rate of home ownership in a generation, and fewer homes built than at any time since the 1920s.

“Ministers have a duty to act and Labour will expose them when they fail. There’s so much more Ministers could be doing to ensure more people are decently housed and to help the next generation get on. Their inaction is indefensible. There can – and must – be change.”

150921 Five Years of Failure