As the government continues to tout its ambitious target of delivering 1.5 million new homes, Shadow Housing Secretary James Cleverly has delivered a scathing verdict: the pledge is nothing more than "nonsense". Speaking on a recent podcast, Cleverly highlighted the yawning gap between high-sounding promises and actual progress on the ground.
He accused politicians of being overly focused on grand designs, while neglecting the hard graft required to bring new homes into existence. "One of the problems with politics," he observed wryly, "is that everybody wants to be an architect – no one wants to be a builder." Cleverly argued that policymakers should shift their attention from setting targets and focus on supporting businesses that have the capacity to deliver new housing.
The Conservative MP also pointed out that unless greater emphasis is placed on skills training, increasing construction capacity, and supporting firms building new homes, the UK's housing shortage will remain a stubborn problem. He highlighted the need for vocational careers in skilled trades such as bricklaying and carpentry to be properly valued, suggesting that years of neglect have contributed to labour shortages across the sector.
Cleverly also used the opportunity to unveil key Conservative Party policies aimed at boosting housebuilding, including plans to scrap stamp duty – which he described as a "drag anchor on the British economy" – and criticised the government's recent increases to National Insurance contributions, minimum wage thresholds, and employment rights. These measures, he argued, are "really, really counterproductive" for small building firms that rely on taking on young people to drive growth.