Corbyn tries to woo Generation Rent ahead of local elections by promising to create one million affordable homes over the next decade - but warns he will stop the 'right to buy'
- Jeremy Corbyn launched the Labour Party's housing policy in London today
- Labour will halt the right of council tenants to buy their homes as part of plans
- Lots of the UK goes to the polls on May 3 and housing is a big issue on doorstep
Jeremy Corbyn today set out to woo Generation Rent ahead of local elections by vowing to create one million 'genuinely affordable' new homes over the next decade.
The Labour leader pledged to go on a house building spree which would see construction surge to levels not seen since the 1970s.
But he also vowed to put an end to the right of council house tenants to own their own property.
The policy, introduced by Margaret Thatcher and continued under successive Labour and Tory governments, has allowed many to get their foot on the housing ladder.
But under Labour's housing plans, launched in London today, the party says it will put a stop to the sell-off of 50,000 socially rented homes a year.
Jeremy Corbyn (pictured today) today set out to woo Generation Rent ahead of local elections by vowing to create one million 'genuinely affordable' new homes over the next decade.
The Labour leader pledged to go on a house building spree which would see construction surge to levels not seen since the 1970s
And the party will tear up Tory rules which allow homes costing up to £450,000 to be classified as 'affordable'.
Mr Corbyn said Britain's housing market is in 'crisis' and that his party will 'turn this around' by pursuing 'radical' measures.
He told an audience in London that homelessness is up, luxury flats are proliferating while social housing is 'starved of investment'.
He added: 'And the horror of the fire in Grenfell Tower, a fire in which people literally died because of where they lived, haunting the nation’s conscience.
'Today, Labour set out our plan to turn this around and it involves two simple steps: build enough housing and make sure that housing is affordable to those who need it.
'That’s why we have promised today that the next Labour Government will deliver one million genuinely affordable homes over ten years, the majority of which will be for social rent.
'And that we will dismiss the Tories farcical definition of affordable housing for the sham that it is, replacing it with a definition that understands that whether housing is affordable or not depends on how much people earn, not how much speculators have flooded property markets.'
He also tore into the flagship Tory policy of right to buy - which extended the dream of home ownership to a generation of council tenants who could to afford to buy in the private sector.
He said: 'Council building has been in decline since the Tories introduced the Right to Buy at the same time as shackling councils by prohibiting them from using the proceeds to replace the houses sold.'
Instead Labour has laid out plans to keep this housing in the hands of the state.
The Tories have also pledged to building more homes- with Theresa May (pictured at the meeting of Commonwealth heads at Buckingham Palace today) saying it is her 'personal mission' to fix the housing market
Their green paper states that the party will 'stop the sell-off of 50,000 social rented homes a year by suspending the right to buy.'
Mr Corbyn told the party's housing launch today that under Theresa May the Tories have 'not only failed to deliver on social housing, but made it their mission to eliminate it - cutting social housing grants time and time again, redefining affordable housing so that it’s no such thing, forcing councils to sell their best stock.'
Britain's sky-high house prices has fuelled anger and is believed to be one of the major factors driving voters under the age of 40 to back Labour at the last election.
Much of the country goes to the polls gain on May 3 and Conservative MPs have privately warned that disquiet over ballooning house prices is a major issue on the doorstep..
The Tories have also pledged to building more homes- with the PM saying it is her 'personal mission' to fix the housing market.
Last year the Conservatives set out plans to build 25,000 extra social homes in the UK over two years.
The Prime Minister also announced an extra £2 billion for affordable housing.
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