Theresa May’s £2billion for council houses not enough as cash will only build 25,000 homes
In the biggest announcement at the Tories’ annual conference, Mrs May ploughed the cash into boosting the supply of affordable housing, but No10 later admitted it was just a start
THERESA May yesterday vowed to make fixing Britain’s housing crisis her “mission” - as she pledged a new generation of council houses.
In the biggest announcement at the Tories’ annual conference, Mrs May ploughed £2billion into boosting the supply of affordable housing.
But it swiftly emerged that the cash injection would only build 25,000 new homes over five years.
At the same time, there are 1.2 million families sitting on local authority waiting lists, leaving charities to insist it was just “a fraction” of what’s needed.
No10 was forced to admit the new money was “just the start”.
Under it, government land will be offered up for new plots and the council homes will be built well below market level where the crisis is most chronic.
Mrs May said her move would “get government back into the business of building houses”.
She added: “It won’t be quick or easy, but as Prime Minister I am going to make it my mission to solve this problem.
“I will take personal charge of the government’s response, and make the British Dream a reality by reigniting home ownership in Britain once again.”
Mrs May also slammed the house building records of governments going back 40 years, including her own.
Organ donors
THERESA May pledged to change the organ donors law, potentially saving hundreds of lives every year.
Everyone in England will be a donor with presumed consent when they die unless they have opted out.
Wales introduced an opt-out system in 2015 and Scotland plans to change.
And she admitted that the General Election disaster that saw her stripped of her majority proved her government’s own new house building blueprint published just six months ago was “not nearly enough”.
The PM added: “We’ve listened and we’ve learned.”
A decade ago, 59% of 25- to 34-year-olds owned their own home, but today the figure is just 38%.
Mental health
DECADES-old mental health laws discriminating against ethnic minorities will be scrapped, the PM vowed.
Psychiatrist Sir Simon Wessely has been asked to carry out an independent review of the legislation.
The PM said: “Detention rates under the Mental Health Act are too high.”
In the 1960s, 200,000 council and housing association homes a year were being built.
In 1992, the figure had fallen to just 57,020, and last year it hit a record low of just 6,500.
Mrs May also issued a stern warning to builders to “do your duty to Britain” and get on with construction, rather than land banking on plots in the hope their value goes up.
Shelter CEO Polly Neate said: "We’re pleased to see the government acting to ease the misery of millions of private renters and tackling the desperate need for social homes at genuinely affordable rents.
“All new money is welcome, but the reality is this is only a fraction of the long-term investment required. It will need to be the start, rather than the end.”
Disaster Czar
THE Prime Minister unveiled plans for a “disaster tsar” to support bereaved families at public inquests and inquiries.
Referring to the Grenfell tragedy, she said too many voices “had been ignored”.
An independent advocate would act for them at times of major incidents.
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Builders groups also warned they needed government help to train up and recruiting a bigger workforce.
Federation of Master Builders’ chief executive Brian Berry: “Following Brexit, the serious shortage of skilled labour the construction industry is already dealing with will be exacerbated if it becomes much more difficult for EU tradespeople to move to the UK”.
Labour insisted the PM’s new proposal only means she will still be investing less than half than Labour did in their last year in government in affordable housing.
Building schools
THE free schools revolution will continue and 100 new ones a year will be built, Theresa May pledged.
She told delegates: “We will continue to reform education and skills training so that people growing up in Britain today are ready and able to seize the opportunities ahead.”