Labour 'failing to build enough houses to keep pace with mass migration'

Meanwhile, net migration totalled 204,000 people during that same period, the Daily Mail reports.

The study, which was conducted by the Conservative Party, found migrants would require the equivalent of 86,441 of the newly-built properties, or around 36 per cent.

A Tory spokesman said it showed "the full scale of Labour's housing crisis", adding the Government had "failed to build anywhere near enough homes to match the levels of immigration they have allowed in their first year".

However, Labour hit back, saying they were "getting on with the job".

The analysis by the Tories said it was based on official housing supply data, Office for National Statistics net migration figures and Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecast showing net migration will add more than 1.76 million people to the UK population by 2030.

Therefore, it means 749,250 additional homes will be required, which at current rates will be the equivalent of 52 per cent of new housebuilding, although the Tories said increased construction rates forecast by the OBR would see that figure fall to 50 per cent.

Shadow Housing Secretary Sir James Cleverly said Labour was falling short of their ambitious house building targets.

He said: "Labour's first year has shown they cannot build the homes Britain needs, let alone keep pace with the pressures their own immigration policy has created.

"The Conservatives have set out a plan that tackles the problem at both ends. We will curb the pressures driving demand, scrap Stamp Duty to get the market moving, and free up the homes families need.

"That is how we restore fairness and give people a real path to ownership."

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said British families were left "paying the price" for Labour's migration policy, while also taking aim at Reform UK.

He said: "Labour have opened the door to record immigration without any plan to deal with the consequences. This is the cost of Labour's failure, but the Conservatives will not stand by while fairness is torn up.

"Through our borders plan, we will leave the European Convention on Human Rights, remove all illegal immigrants within a week of arrival, end the merry-go-round of appeals, then the crossings will stop.

"But Keir Starmer doesn't have the backbone to do this, and Reform are a one-man band with no detailed plans."

Back in 2024, Labour's General Election manifesto had pledged to build 1.5 million new homes "over the next parliament".

A Tory spokesman said: "This is the pattern of Labour's first year. Open borders, record pressure on housing, and no plan to build enough homes.

"British families are pushed further down waiting lists, rents rise, prices rise, and the gap between supply and demand widens with every passing month."

Responding to the Tories, a Labour spokesman said: "'This is a bit rich. Since the Tories left office Labour has cut legal migration by two-thirds and house building has become a top priority for the government. They are right that fixing the problems they left us is difficult, but Labour is getting on with the job."

Back in December, Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook admitted "progress" towards meeting Labour’s manifesto pledge, to build 1.5 million new homes by the end of this Parliament, had been "slow."

He told the Commons: "Progress towards that ambitious 1.5 million new homes target was always going to be slow in the early years of this Parliament.

"After all, the Government inherited a housing market downturn exacerbated by the conscious and deliberate decisions of ministers in the previous Conservative government to make a series of anti-supply changes to national planning policy, including the abolition of mandatory housing targets."

Shadow housing minister Gareth Bacon labelled the Government’s housebuilding record "dreadful", adding it would take seven years to meet the manifesto commitment.

He said: "In London under their abysmal mayor [Sir Sadiq Khan], for the last decade Labour have conspicuously failed to build the right amount of housing and now they are going to fail to build the right kind of housing in the right places in the rest of England, clearly preferring to target building in rural areas, while not building in the cities and urban areas where demand is highest and much of the necessary infrastructure already exists."

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