Re-elected Andy Burnham commits to building 10,000 new council homes over the next four years

The Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, has pledged to build 10,000 council homes across Greater Manchester over his next mayoral term.

Burnham said that he will build at least 1,000 new homes for social rent in every borough of Greater Manchester. He said that brownfield land has already been earmarked for development of the homes. 

In an interview on BBC Breakfast this morning, Burnham stated that “housing has got to be the priority”, adding that he will make it “a top-order issue”.

After winning his third mayoral term over the weekend, Burnham also said that Whitehall and Westminster need to grant the combined authority permission to suspend Right to Buy for new homes.

>> See also: The only way out of the housing crisis is to build more social homes

>> See also: Building 90,000 new social homes a year ‘could boost British economy by £50bn’

He explained that the housing crisis is getting worse each year “because with right to buy, we lose new homes for social rent every year”. Burnham stated that in the last year, Greater Manchester lost 500 social rent homes to RTB.

“If we don’t, trying to solve the housing crisis is like trying to fill a bath with the plug out because you try and build new homes but you lose them at the other end”, he added.

He said “we need a rethink of right to buy”, but clarified that it is a matter of “suspending it, not ending it”. He emphasised that the delivery of more homes for social rent is necessary for the RTB policy to be reinstated.

Burnham will introduce the Greater Manchester Good Landlord Charter to drive up the standard of homes in the private rented sector.

The charter will give residents the right to request a property check “if they’re concerned their home is unfit or unsafe”.

Burnham will expand his ‘A Bed Every Night’ scheme, which currently provides accommodation to 600 people every night who would otherwise be rough sleeping. 

Elsewhere in the mayoral elections, Sadiq Khan was won a third term in London with a swing of 3.2%, while Labour’s Richard Parker narrowly defeated Andy Street in the West Midlands. Conservative incumbent Ben Houchen hung on to win a third term in Tees Valley.