Liberal Democrats have long recognised the housing crisis that has grown steadily worse since the 1979 Conservative Government stopped councils building new homes. In Government, Liberal Democrats have made a good start at increasing the number of affordable homes built for rent, with 335,000 homes to be completed between 2011 and 2018, and supported initiatives to help deliver market housing.
We’ve also agreed an ambitious target of 300,000 new homes each year for overall housing supply as party policy. But even with some councils starting to build again, there is a long way to go before anywhere near enough homes are built each year in Britain to meet need.