‘Build, baby, build’: Housing secretary commits to 1.5m-home target
Will Steve Reed provide the jumpstart to housing development that Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government has promised? A recent meeting with housebuilders has at least one developer optimistic.
Shortly after being appointed housing secretary, Steve Reed told civil servants that his mantra would be “build, baby, build”. So far, it is on track to become his catch phrase as he has been quoted repeating it on separate occasions to the Telegraph, BBC, and now to the general public.
“I want us to build, baby, build, so we can put the key to a decent home into the hands of every single family that needs it,” Reed said in a Friday press release as he issued a ‘call to arms’ to developers to encourage them to build faster.
The statement followed a roundtable discussion with representatives from Landsec, British Land, Vistry Group, Taylor Wimpey, Barratt Redrow, and more.
Muse’s Phil Mayall, second from left and pictured next to Landsec’s Mark Allan, was one of the developers who met with secretary Steve Reed. Credit: MHCLG via Open Government Licence, bit.ly/3F2n4lo
Phil Mayall, managing director of Muse, was among those who attended.
“It was an honour to represent Muse at a roundtable with the new secretary of state, Steve Reed, and housing minister, Matthew Pennycook,” Mayall said. “It was great to understand more about his key priorities and see a genuine willingness from him to engage with and listen to industry leaders.”
Mayall continued: “In the discussion I raised the importance of addressing viability challenges in order to prevent housing delivery being held back as well as sharing my views on how the Planning and Infrastructure Bill could break down barriers to development.
“The secretary of state’s eagerness to listen and commit to respond directly with his thoughts on the ideas that we’re shared was an extremely positive sign.”
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Reed has since announced that the government is committed to building 1.5m homes before the end of this Parliament. He promised a series of new measures to be announced to encourage this, including the aforementioned Planning and Infrastructure Bill and the unveiling of the government’s new towns.
“We are doubling down on our plans to unleash one of the biggest eras of building in our country’s history and we are backing the builders all the way,” Reed said.
“Through major planning reform and investment, we will break down the barriers to development and build the 1.5m homes this country needs as part of our Plan for Change.”
The latest Office of National Statistics figures for housebuilding starts and completions show that Reed has a lot of work to do. There were only 184,590 homes completed in 2024 – just a bit more than half of the 300,000 required to hit the 1.5m target.
This year seems to be set for similar figures – if not smaller ones, with 38,780 completions between January and March. That’s down 6% from the same period in 2024 and the lowest number of homes delivered in a quarter since the first quarter of 2016.
Savills echoed the statistical pessimism of the ONS, predicting in June that the government will only see the building of 840,000 homes prior to its 2029 deadline.
You see, Steve, that rhetoric indicates to me that there seems little basis in fact to back what you’re saying.
Where’s the money coming from, the material, the skill set and so on? The economy is subdued so developers won’t build new houses if people aren’t buying.
In my view, this government has lost control of the very institution of government and such an excessive display of what is, to me, quite juvenile language will not address any issue with any degree of useful conviction.
Labour is not working for anyone in this country, much less the working people often referred to.
By Roy Lewis
Worst government we’ve ever had
By Anonymous
This goverments cooked.
By Anonymous
A triumph of hope over reality. Until they remove the regulatory and planning impediments to progress, there’s no chance they’ll meet these figures.
By More Anonymous than the others
I wouldn’t believe a single word they say. I thought the last lot were bad but this lot have ramped it up to whole new levels.
By Anonymous
The government are dealing with probably the most difficult set of circumstances any incoming government has in recent memory.
The state of the economy after over 10 years of low to now economic and productivty growth, the Brexit catastrophe, wars, extremism, public services trashed and dysfunctional, public finances in a mess. Like a supertanker it will take a long time to fix and anyone expecting a quick or easy fix is deluded or willfully ignorant.
The only solution, really, is investment. Investment in infrastructure people and place that will pay dividends over years. But it’s a balancing act whilst public finances are in such a state. And on that front they’re doing exactly the right things, taking the difficult long term decisions.
By Anonymous
Anon @11:18 Starmer has made some serious mistakes in both policy and judgement. The biggest was the National Insurance hike on businesses, which has directly led to job cuts and reduced working hours. Then there’s the glaring contradiction between pushing for net zero while simultaneously relaxing planning laws, allowing sprawling housing developments, wind farms, and solar farms to be built on greenbelt and prime agricultural land. On top of that, the inheritance tax changes on farmers undermine the very people we should be supporting to ensure food security. And let’s be honest — the whole “Build, baby, build” mantra is infantile sloganeering and little more than hot air. With more tax hikes almost certain in the next budget, I honestly don’t see how anyone can argue the economy is “growing” under these damaging policies.
By Bill Ward
Off to the bookies to see if I can get odds on this Government not building more than 750,000 homes in its five years!
By Anonymous
Anonymous 11.18, you are 100% correct. I’m hopeful that investment will help turn the economic and political corner in the next 4 years. Let’s face Reform and the tories have no credible policies.
By Anonymous
Reed paraphrasing Trump.
By Anonymous
I think the only people that will be backing Labour in the next GE will be developers. Good luck with that one 😂
By Craig Lewis
‘The most difficult set of circumstances’ ..just what every government says ..before they too get voted out !
By Bye Bye Baby
Everything in this country is bad and getting worse. I read it on social media, and I know from school that what you read is the truth, what is written in newspapers is the truth, folk who talk posh and have posh name should be believed, so it must be true.
By Anonymous
To the cynics, just where do you expect money to come from for better public services and more investment?
Realistically the alternative was the dystopia and chaos of Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak or the magical thinking and deception of Reform.
Unfortunately, there are no quick fixes to years and years of underinvestment and constant instability of ever changing ideologically driven, ineffective policy.
By Anonymous
People need to calm down a little and stop talking us all into oblivion. Yes there are skills shortages. Yes there are shortages of some materials. Yes there is a shortage of planners and other professions. We need to pick out the most credible sites and schemes and run with them, and stop in the indulgent talk of some developers and some public agencies who think Government money should cover every viability gap. Remember that overpaying grant on one scheme means there’s less money left in the system to build out on another scheme in the region, therefore leading to slower rates of housebuilding. Egos need to be put aside in all sectors with a focus on the practicalities of delivery.
By Anonymous
It does indeed take many years to fix chronic under investment. It won’t be Labour who fixes it though. Printing more and more money to fuel a larger state is never the long term solution and a government that doesn’t invest in technology like AI, Robotics and Blockchain technology like the successful areas of the world do can never grow its way out this mess. Labour just don’t have the drive or ideology to do this, they already have one foot out the door.
By Sam
“Reed has since announced that the government is committed to building 1.5m homes before the end of this Parliament. He promised a series of new measures to be announced to encourage this, including the aforementioned Planning and Infrastructure Bill and the unveiling of the government’s new towns.”
So he announced nothing.
By Anonymous