Government ‘absolutely committed’ to homes pledge, new Housing Secretary says

The Government is “absolutely committed” to its pledge to build 1.5 million new homes in England by 2029, the new Housing Secretary has said.

Steve Reed said the Government was standing firm behind the vow, which was part of Labour’s pre-election manifesto, telling the BBC: “It’s what we’re going to do.”

Mr Reed told the broadcaster: “We’ll do it by working in partnership with the developers and with the builders.

“My job is to get every barrier out of the way that is stopping that construction going ahead.”

He added he was in the process of developing an “acceleration package” that would help speed along planning applications while warning of “sanctions” for developers who do not move at pace.

“I don’t want the developers dragging their feet. They don’t want to drag their feet – it’s their business,” he said.

“They make money from going ahead with construction. I’m going to work in partnership with the developers but there will be sanctions if the building doesn’t go ahead at pace and at scale.”

The former environment secretary took over Angela Rayner’s brief in Sir Keir Starmer’s reshuffle of his senior ministers after Ms Rayner resigned for breaching the ministerial code.

Separately, Mr Reed told the BBC Ms Rayner’s resignation was “very painful”.

He said: “Angela’s a friend who was going through a very, very difficult time. And, you know, on the one level I wanted to reach out to her and support her as a friend, and I did that.

“But on another level, there are these events that I’m watching on the TV news at the same time.

“It’s quite odd when you suddenly find yourself and the things that are happening to the people around you in the news too.”