Labour has committed to building 100,000 council homes and “at least” 50,000 affordable homes via housing associations a year by the end of parliament in its election manifesto published today.
This follows the Liberal Democrats manifesto pledge to deliver 100,000 social rent units a year and require all new homes to reach PassivHaus standards from 2025 announced yesterday.
Funding of the Lib Dem house building programme will be part of a planned £130bn package of infrastructure investment, while Labour will pull from a £150bn Social Transformation Fund.
“We now call for all parties to take their commitments a step further and pledge to build these homes using low carbon materials, which will help drive and accelerate change in the construction industry to achieve its carbon emissions targets,” said Roy Wakeman, chair of the CTI.
“Construction is directly responsible for 10% of all GHG emissions in the UK, but if we substitute energy-intensive materials like cement and steel for sustainable timber we can shift the needle.
“As was made clear in the recent report by the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for the Timber Industries, timber is the only proven solution which can allow us to build houses quicker and to higher quality standards, all the while lowering our carbon emissions.
“We strongly encourage all of the political parties to get behind the recommendations of the APPG and embrace solutions which will tackle both our housing and climate crises.”
