Can Andy Burnham solve the UK’s housing crisis?

Analysts say the Starmer government’s planning reforms for England – including changing the rules on green belt development to increase the area homes can be built on – should help increase construction in the long term.

But some argue that, in the immediate term, housing construction by private sector developers, external is being held back by high house prices relative to average household incomes and elevated mortgage interest rates, which make housing unaffordable to many prospective buyers.

The average house price in England, external was estimated at £300,000 in 2025, almost eight times the average annual earnings of a full-time employee.

Private housing developers have also cited factors such as a shortage of skilled labourers from Europe since Brexit and a jump in construction material costs in the wake of the pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, as barriers to delivery.

Some argue government environmental and safety regulation, external is also holding back construction.

One option for Burnham to increase the supply of new social housing would be to prioritise the construction of homes for rent by councils and housing associations and direct the entire £39 billion, 10-year investment package towards that goal, rather than using part of it to subsidise the building of affordable homes for purchase.