Theresa May vows to take charge and ‘build more homes, more quickly’

The prime minister has said it's her “mission” to fix the broken housing market and get more homes built across the country.

With less than a week before the Budget, Theresa May admitted it will be a “long journey” addressing housing shortages with the country not building enough homes for decades. The statement comes as pressure mounts on the chancellor Philip Hammond to borrow more money in order to build.

May said: “For decades we simply have not been building enough homes, nor have we been building them quickly enough, and we have seen prices rise. The number of new homes being delivered each year has been increasing since 2010, but there is more we can do. We must get back into the business of building the good quality new homes for people who need them most. That is why I have made it my mission to build the homes the country needs and take personal charge of the Government’s response.”

Communities secretary Sajid Javid, has previously suggested the chancellor should consider borrowing more money to invest in new housebuilding, will deliver a speech on housing in Bristol later. 

He is expected to say: “The generation crying out for help with housing is not over-entitled. They don’t want the world handed to them on a plate. They want simple fairness, moral justice, the opportunity to play by the same rules enjoyed by those who came before them. Without affordable, secure, safe housing we risk creating a rootless generation, drifting from one short-term tenancy to the next, never staying long enough to play a role in their community.”

Javid will also announce that the government is taking housing associations’ debt off the balance sheet, ensuring housing associations have a stable investment environment to build more homes.

The statements come after Hammond hinted at help for first-time buyers in his Budget, but warned there was no ‘silver bullet’ that would fix the housing market.