Tell the next Prime Minister to get councils building

Sign the petition today: tell the next Prime Minister to make real change and get councils building social homes again

Our communities have been neglected for too long. Due to the lack of social homes, over 176,000 children in England are homeless. Their childhoods are being spent in cramped and unsafe temporary accommodation. The record levels of homelessness in this country is a scandal.

The government promised a 'social and council housing revolution'. But despite record homelessness, only a tiny number of social homes are being built.

Whoever becomes the next Prime Minister has a choice. Will they deliver on that promise and commit to getting councils building again, or watch the housing emergency continue to worsen?

The drop in council building has led to a huge increase in housing costs, meaning families can’t afford a proper place to call home, and fuelling the cost-of-living crisis.

The only way to build the 90,000 social homes we need every year is by getting councils building again. That’s how we did it in the 1960s and 70s.

That way we can give people a truly affordable place to put down roots for generations to come, a place for children to learn and play. Social homes build communities.

With a change in Prime Minister, this moment is crucial.

Sign the petition today to tell the next Prime Minister to make real change and get councils building again.

• • What are we calling on the next Prime Minister to commit to?

    We need the next Prime Minister to commit to building 90,000 social rent homes a year for 10 years. To do that we need a comprehensive plan to get councils building again – councils have been saddled with historic debt that sucks away investment in new homes.

    For a social housing revolution to happen, we need to remove this crippling debt and boost the funding for social homes to the scale the housing emergency. That way, local authorities can get on with building social homes to end the housing emergency for good.

    • Remove historic housing debt that local authorities owe to central government so councils stop having to use their funds to pay off this debt and can start investing in new social homes instead. More than 100 councils have said this is essential for the future of council housing.
    • Unlock low-cost finance for council building. Change Treasury rules so councils are no longer at a disadvantage (compared to other social housing landlords) for getting the low-cost loans that they need to build.
    • Support councils to buy land at low prices. Because right now, there are usually huge mark-ups involved if councils want to buy land – making that land highly unaffordable for building new social homes on it.
    • Give local authorities more power and funding to transform empty homes into quality social homes. This would let councils breathe new life into empty flats and houses, turning these forgotten spaces into new homes for their communities.
    • Increase investment in social housing. The funding for social housing in the Social and Affordable Housing Programme announced last year was much needed, but we must continue to boost the funding for social homes to the scale the housing emergency demands.

     

    • • Why do we need more social homes? Record breaking homelessness

        In England, over 176,000 children are currently homeless and in temporary accommodation because there aren’t enough homes people can afford - homes at social rent.

        The rents for social homes are the only kind that are genuinely affordable, because they are tied to local people’s incomes. That means it is the most affordable type of rent – usually around half the cost of the private rented sector.

        We will only tackle the record levels of homelessness once and for all if we build the social homes that this country so desperately needs.

         

        • How many social homes are we building now? Decades of neglect

          In 2023/24, social homes made up just 4.6% of all new homes delivered. In the first year of the Labour government, this had only increased to 5.7%. That is not a social housing revolution.

          Over 2 million social homes have been sold off through Right to Buy since 1980 and we’re still losing more than we’ve been building. But we can do something different!

          Getting councils building social homes creates certainty. It means that we don’t have to rely on private developers to build social homes and private homes.