05 Jun 2025
We welcome the opportunity to respond to this consultation, and its focus on fixing the foundations. Our interest spans several areas of the Labour government’s growth missions, but we have focussed our response on ‘kickstarting economic growth’ since it relates directly to housing.
CIH welcomes the government’s ambition to deliver higher living standards, 1.5 million new homes, and a decade of national renewal. As set out in our submissions to the Spending Review, Invest 2035: UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy, and building on the Resolution Foundation’s Capital Gains report, we believe housing must sit at the heart of this mission-led approach.
Investing in housing not only boosts growth and jobs, it also underpins key missions of government: breaking down barriers to opportunity, building an NHS fit for the future, and greening our homes and communities.
High housing costs, poor-quality homes, and a lack of affordability are major drags on household living standards and economic mobility. The Capital Gains report makes clear that the accumulation of housing wealth by 'higher income households (which can include some older households) has come at the expense of those on lower incomes, fuelling intergenerational and regional inequality.
By contrast, investing in affordable and decent housing:
Crucially, it also supports health and wellbeing. Poor housing is one of the biggest drivers of health inequalities . A safe, warm, affordable home is the first foundation of a healthy life—and reducing pressures on the NHS must start with fixing housing.
Place-based investment in housing and infrastructure can drive inclusive growth. CIH recommends:
These interventions would reduce geographical inequalities in both opportunity and asset accumulation. New and improved homes in left-behind areas (both urban and rural) can help retain young people, attract business investment, and support inclusive local economies.
CIH supports the government’s modern industrial strategy. As we set out in our response to Invest 2035, housing investment should be treated as infrastructure, with direct links to economic growth, health, and environmental goals.
Tackling inequalities requires a holistic and joined-up approach that integrates housing, infrastructure, health, education, and climate action—ensuring everyone has access to safe, affordable, and good quality homes as part of thriving, sustainable communities.
We recommend:
This creates high-quality, place-based jobs while improving the energy performance of homes—supporting the government’s net zero and energy efficiency goals.
We welcome the government’s commitment to overhaul the planning system, but reforms must be strategic (not just faster), support delivery of genuinely affordable homes, and prioritise good quality homes and place-making, not just numbers.
Obstacles still to be addressed include:
In addition, housing providers—particularly housing associations and local authorities—face acute financial pressures, including rising development costs, inflationary pressures, and the need to invest in existing homes to meet decency, safety, and net zero standards.
These challenges have reduced capacity to deliver new homes. To meet the 1.5 million target, government must help to financially stabilise the sector so it can plan and invest with confidence over the long term.
We recommend:
Setting clear targets for genuinely affordable (social) homes based on local need and boosting social and affordable housing supply through increased grant funding (our submission to the government’s Spending Review calls for £39 billion of investment over five years)
Delivering 1.5 million homes is not just a number—it must deliver the right homes in the right places, focused on meeting need. (Further information and analysis is set out in our submission to the Spending Review.)
Unlocking development at pace requires:
Co-locating housing with health, education, and employment hubs should be a core principle. Homes built with local services and infrastructure can support school readiness, reduce transport costs, and promote healthier, greener lifestyles.
Housing inequality mirrors wider structural inequalities. Marginalised groups—including women, Black and minority ethnic people, disabled people, and LGBT+ communities—are more likely to experience insecure, unaffordable, or inaccessible housing.
We urge the government to:
Stable housing is critical to breaking down barriers to opportunity, particularly for groups historically excluded from secure tenures and asset accumulation. Accessible housing plays a significant role in enabling disabled people to enter and sustain employment.
Housing is devolved, but the challenges are shared. The government should:
Local authorities are central to delivery. They need autonomy, capacity, and clarity on their role as enablers of homes and places. Housing associations should also be recognised as core anchor institutions that are well-placed to enable successful delivery at scale.
Investment in housing is not only an economic lever—it is a social, environmental, and public health intervention. Getting housing right will support every pillar of the government’s Plan for Change: raising living standards, reducing inequality, improving public health, and delivering a greener, more secure future.
For more details, read Labour's National Policy Forum
For more information on our response please contact Rachael Williamson, director of policy, communications and external affairs, policyandpractice@cih.org