"Most of all, imagine this scene from the conference fringe, recounted by Inside Housing magazine: Steve Reed skipped into the room only once the well-orchestrated chanting by his party faithful was deemed loud enough to the tune of We Built This City by Starship. He then took to the stage and proceeded to throw more signed and branded merchandise into the crowd, before cracking open a bottle of alcohol because all builders need a beer'."
"Take London, where the government wants 88,000 homes finished before January. That goal was always a huge stretch but now it looks like a joke: so far this year ground has broken on just 3,248 new units. The figure comes from the consultancy Molior, which says that one in every six major housing projects is frozen: schemes are halted, with the gates padlocked."
Steve Reed replaced Angela Rayner as housing secretary and adopted populist imagery and slogans such as Build Baby Build, handing out branded caps and merchandise and staging theatrical conference appearances. The government pledged 1.5 million new homes this parliament but officials privately accept they will miss the target. In London the government sought 88,000 completions before January, yet only 3,248 units have begun construction this year. Consultancy Molior reports one in six major housing projects is frozen, with halted schemes and padlocked gates. The shortfall has prompted government panic and a No 10 war-room working on a rescue package due to be announced next week.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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