Political reporter<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner has said there are “no excuses” to not build the 1.5 million new homes Labour promised in its election manifesto.<\/p>\n The government has said it will meet the house-building target in England by 2029, before the next general election.<\/p>\n BBC analysis shows<\/a> the number of new homes in England continued to fall during the first six months Labour was in power.<\/p>\n Speaking to the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Rayner said Labour knew hitting the target “was going to be really difficult”, given housebuilding trends before it entered government – but said she was determined to meet it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The housing, communities and local government secretary said that within a month of taking office, she was asked if she wanted to review Labour’s housing target.<\/p>\n “I wasn’t going to give up on the target,” she said.<\/p>\n She said she was personally “determined to meet that 1.5 million target” and said policies such as reforming the planning system would “take time” to have an impact.<\/p>\n She added: “There are no excuses to not build those homes that people desperately need.<\/p>\n “And we mean business on this, because far too many people are not getting these homes.”<\/p>\n Labour hopes building more homes will reduce house prices and make buying and renting homes more affordable, especially for younger people.<\/p>\n Its target means building an average of 300,000 new homes a year – a number not achieved since the 1970s.<\/p>\n In recent years, the number of new homes built annually has been considerably below that figure.<\/p>\n The housing industry has expressed doubts about Labour’s housing target and whether it can be reached by 2029.<\/p>\n![\"BBC](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/a819\/live\/736d9e70-e6ce-11ef-bd1b-d536627785f2.jpg.webp\")
BBC<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n