Long-Bailey pushes council house ‘boom’

REBECCA LONG-BAILEY is challenging her fellow Labour leadership contenders to back a council house “building boom” creating hundreds of thousands of new homes.

The Shadow Business Secretary argued at a rally in Peterborough last night that the pledge as part of her “aspirational socialism” programme would fix the housing crisis.

Ms Long-Bailey is challenging opponents Lisa Nandy and Sir

Keir Starmer, who has already backed a large-scale building scheme, to support the move she says would also drive up standards for all. The ballot of Labour members and supporters to choose Jeremy Corbyn’s successor opens on Monday.

At the rally, Ms Long-Bailey said she will “proudly argue” for the building of more social housing.

“Council waiting lists have soared while owning a home is but a distant dream for most young people.

“And it’s not just private tenants who are being ripped off by sky-high rents, we all are. Because there aren’t enough council homes, private landlords pocket around £10bn per year in housing benefit.

“We could do so much more with that money, like support dignity in old age with free, universal personal care for the over-65s.

“If we want to lay the foundations of aspirational socialism by fixing the housing system from top to bottom, we’ve got to start with a council house building boom.”

Ms Long-Bailey said it is possible for councils to build “desirable, actually pretty swanky” homes, pointing towards Salford in her constituency. There the council has embarked on a programme of providing new homes which have been welcomed by the local press as “luxurious”.