'Bungalows are the future!' Eamonn Holmes calls on Labour Minister to build more accessible homes as he opens up on being 'wheelchair-bound'

Research published by the HomeOwners Alliance has shown that 38 per cent of homeowners aged over 55 prefer a bungalow for their next home.

One in seven homeowners aged 55 and older told the survey they wanted to move, but cited a lack of suitable homes as a disincentive.

Highlighting the steep decline in new bungalows being built, Eamonn told Mr Pennycook: "Demand for bungalows is soaring now. 20 years ago, apparently 11 per cent of new housing was bungalows, now it's down to one per cent.

"And I'm speaking with a vested interest in this because I'm wheelchair-bound at the moment. And as you get older, I tell you, Matthew, you don't realise bungalows are the future."

Acknowledging Eamonn's argument, the Housing Minister responded: "I think it speaks to a much wider point and a really important point, which is that the housing and planning system hasn't really kept pace with demographic change in our country over many decades.

"We absolutely need to build more homes that are the appropriate homes for older people, and also people who have accessibility issues."

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Assuring Eamonn and GB News viewers that he wants Labour's housing policy to include "greater choice and provision for older people", Mr Pennycook expained: "We had a report from the Older People's Housing Taskforce, a series of recommendations, but in general terms, our policy is that we want to see greater choice and provision for older people.

"That might include bungalows, but it also includes other products like shared ownership products directly targeted at older people.

"Because that way, we'll not only provide the homes that they need in particular parts of the country, but it will unlock the chain of houses down the line, which can mean that bigger family homes that are no longer appropriate for an older person living alone can be used and can be taken up by families."

Quizzed by Eamonn on Labour's plans for building "infrastructure" as well as new housing, the Labour Minister told GB News: "In our plan for change, we committed to getting Britain building again, in housing but also infrastructure by fast tracking planning decisions on major economic infrastructure projects.

"We've taken more decisions than any first year in any Parliament in history. We made 21 decisions, it's 25 now post Gatwick, and this isn't just a procedural planning point.

"That's how we'll get Britain building, and we're making the changes again in the Planning and Infrastructure Bill to ensure that the consenting process for these projects is faster, is more certain for applicants, and that we can make those decisions as a Government in a more timely way."

Asked by Eamonn if he is "excited" about the future of Labour "getting Britain building", Mr Pennycook told GB News: "I am excited, because I think many of your listeners will feel as I do, there is a sense and has been a sense over recent years that we just can't get big things done anymore, that we can't build the infrastructure we need, that nothing works.

"And we're going to prove as a Government that it can be made to work, the system can work.

"We can get these tiny decisions and we can get the essential infrastructure in place across the country."

He concluded: "What we need is a way that benefits working people, whether that's shorter commutes, cheaper air flights, better water structure, infrastructure provision and the direct jobs that come with those projects and the wider supply chain."