EXCLUSIVE: Nearly half of Labour’s new homes built since taking power have been wiped out by the housing demand created by net migration alone, figures show.
Labour failing to meet 1.5m home building target (Image: Getty)
Almost half of the new homes built since Labour took power have been cancelled out by the housing demand created by net migration, damning new figures show.
Since Sir Keir Starmer swept into office in 2024 an estimated 312,606 people have been added to the population through net migration alone.
Analysis shows this influx created a new demand for 130,166 homes, equal to 47% of the properties the government has built.
The startling figures have been panned by critics with the Conservative MP Katie Lam accusing the government of failing to implement the right immigration policies.
“The combination of low supply, because of restrictions on housebuilding, and high demand, driven mostly by immigration, has left a whole generation locked out of home ownership,” Ms Lam said.
She accused the Government of making “both problems worse”, adding: “They’ve not made it any easier to get houses built, and they’ve failed to implement the kind of limited, selective immigration system that the British people have voted for, time and time again.”
With net migration figures as they are, and housebuilding failing to keep pace, Ms Lam said: “The result is that half of the new homes built since the last election will be cancelled out by immigration”.
When Labour came into power on the back of the landslide 2024 General Election, they pledged to build 1.5 million homes this parliament.
But analysis suggests they will fail to do so, and will instead be left with a shortfall of nearly 467,000.
The analysis was seized upon by Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp, who said: “This is what uncontrolled immigration looks like. Nearly half of all homes Labour delivers vanishes before a British family gets a look in.”
Mr Philp said: “Labour have failed on both housing and immigration. The Conservatives have set out a plan that tackles the problem at both ends. Through our BORDERS Plan, we will leave the ECHR, remove all illegal immigrants within a week of arrival, end the merry-go-round of appeals, and 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.”
The data suggests a compounding problem with net migration into the UK at 331,000 in the year to December 2024, before falling to 171,000 the following year.
But critics argue that the cumulative pressure on housing stock built up over Labour’s time in office has left British families paying the price through rising rents, lengthening waiting lists and a generation locked out of ownership.
The Conservatives have proposed a ‘BORDERS Plan’ which they say would tackle both sides of the problem.
It would establish a dedicated removals force, ban asylum claims from illegal entrants and scrap the appeals system they say allows cases to drag on for years.
Lam: Generation locked out of home ownership (Image: Getty)
Alp Mehmet, the Chair of Migration Watch UK said the figures meant that “migration on this scale will add huge pressure on the existing housing stock:. He added: “If the Government wants to ease pressure on housing it should begin by controlling, then reducing immigration.”
The Conservatives have pledged to abolish Stamp Duty entirely on primary residences, which they say will reduce transaction costs which are freezing up supply by trapping owners in homes they would otherwise sell.
Both policies would be funded through a £47billion savings package targeting welfare spending, the civil service and asylum hotel costs.
A Labour Party spokesman said the Tories had “completely lost control of our borders when they were in power and let migration skyrocket”.
He added: “At the same time, they fuelled a housing crisis which is still being felt today in communities everywhere. Their brass neck is off the charts.
“It’s pathetic that the Conservatives are whining about a Labour government that is cleaning up their mess. They still haven’t even apologised. The Tories failed, but Labour is delivering.
“With Labour, net migration has fallen by 82% and we’ve removed 67,000 people with no right to be here. And we’ve changed planning laws to get Britain building more homes and infrastructure again.”