{"id":11544,"date":"2026-07-10T10:02:57","date_gmt":"2026-07-10T10:02:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/second-home.uk\/?p=11544"},"modified":"2026-07-10T10:02:57","modified_gmt":"2026-07-10T10:02:57","slug":"housing-minister-defends-labours-policy-record-at-committee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/second-home.uk\/?p=11544","title":{"rendered":"Housing minister defends Labour’s policy record at committee"},"content":{"rendered":"

Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook has defended the Government\u2019s housing policy record during questioning by MPs, rejecting claims that Labour lacked a comprehensive plan when entering office in 2024.<\/p>\n

The minister\u2019s appearance before the House of Commons Housing Select Committee follows recent comments by Morgan McSweeney, the Prime Minister\u2019s former chief of staff, who admitted Labour had not made sufficient preparations for power ahead of the General Election.<\/p>\n

Policy implementation<\/h2>\n

Pennycook told the committee: \u201cWe had a well thought-through, very detailed and comprehensive plan developed in opposition\u2026and we have ruthlessly executed that over the past two years.\u201d<\/p>\n

The minister cited several policy initiatives as evidence of progress, including the Renters\u2019 Rights Act<\/a>, efforts to reform the leasehold system, planning system reforms, and the increase in new-build housing starts.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Construction figures<\/h2>\n

Pennycook stated that new-build starts have increased by 15% in the past year, which he attributed to government policy despite what he described as \u201cincredible pressure on the housebuilding industry\u201d from conflict in the Middle East.<\/p>\n

However, the minister declined to confirm whether the Government remains on track to meet its target of 1.5 million new homes by 2029. He stated that the Government should be judged on the number of completions, without providing specific projections.<\/p>\n

Market implications<\/h2>\n

The lack of clarity on delivery targets comes as the property industry<\/a> seeks concrete indicators of housing supply growth. Industry professionals have called for greater transparency on progress towards the Government\u2019s housebuilding commitments, which remain central to addressing the UK\u2019s housing shortage.<\/p>\n

The minister\u2019s comments suggest the Government will continue to prioritise housing delivery metrics, though questions remain about whether current construction rates will be sufficient to meet stated objectives within the parliamentary term.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook has defended the Government\u2019s housing policy record during questioning by MPs, rejecting claims that Labour lacked a comprehensive plan when entering office in 2024. The minister\u2019s appearance before the House of Commons Housing Select Committee follows recent comments by Morgan McSweeney, the Prime Minister\u2019s former chief of staff, who admitted Labour […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8284,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11544","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-second-home"],"yoast_head":"\nHousing minister defends Labour's policy record at committee - Second Home<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.propertywire.com\/news\/uk\/housing-minister-defends-labours-policy-record-at-committee\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Housing minister defends Labour's policy record at committee - Second Home\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook has defended the Government\u2019s housing policy record during questioning by MPs, rejecting claims that Labour lacked a comprehensive plan when entering office in 2024. The minister\u2019s appearance before the House of Commons Housing Select Committee follows recent comments by Morgan McSweeney, the Prime Minister\u2019s former chief of staff, who admitted Labour […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.propertywire.com\/news\/uk\/housing-minister-defends-labours-policy-record-at-committee\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Second Home\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-10T10:02:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/second-home.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/8f810700-edf4-40ba-b619-f6f8d52f8c8a_bc7d0fa8.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.propertywire.com\\\/news\\\/uk\\\/housing-minister-defends-labours-policy-record-at-committee\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/second-home.uk\\\/?p=11544\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/second-home.uk\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/4d1b4955add7c14742a3be9aaae12292\"},\"headline\":\"Housing minister defends Labour’s policy record at committee\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-10T10:02:57+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/second-home.uk\\\/?p=11544\"},\"wordCount\":293,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.propertywire.com\\\/news\\\/uk\\\/housing-minister-defends-labours-policy-record-at-committee\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/second-home.uk\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/8f810700-edf4-40ba-b619-f6f8d52f8c8a_bc7d0fa8.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Second Home\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/second-home.uk\\\/?p=11544\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.propertywire.com\\\/news\\\/uk\\\/housing-minister-defends-labours-policy-record-at-committee\\\/\",\"name\":\"Housing minister defends Labour's policy record at committee - 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