Shadow housing secretary says affordable housing targets are so high they ‘prevent anything getting built’

He said that to “get this done”, the recent “mountains of well-intended regulation” need to be cut down. The shadow housing secretary did not expand on where regulation could be cut.

Earlier this week, it was reported that the Conservatives had proposed £4bn worth of housing cuts from 2029-30. The party claimed the savings would be made by ensuring benefits and social housing are reserved for UK nationals.

Mr Cleverly served under former prime minister David Cameron, who was criticised in 2024 by survivors of the Grenfell Tower fire for his claim that fire safety regulations were not part of his government’s Red Tape Challenge.

Launched by Lord Cameron in April 2011, the challenge aimed to cut back on regulation that was thought to be holding back economic growth.

His comments came two days after the final and second Grenfell Tower Inquiry report was published.

The inquiry concluded that a “poorly run”, “complacent” and “defensive” government department “failed to act on what it knew” about dangerous cladding in the years before Grenfell, amid an enthusiasm for deregulation that “dominated” its thinking.

Meanwhile at the conference, Mr Cleverly also suggested making it easier for older couples to “downsize” on their homes “without punishing them with ever more property tax”.

This would free up a “whole chain of homes”, helping retirees, families and first-time buyers “all at the same time”, a move he described as “common sense”.

Mr Cleverly’s approach involves easing the burden of regulation, in order to get “stuff built”. Easing counterproductive tax that stops homes being bought and sold would also “underpin Conservative housing policy”.

Mr Cleverly also said that he rejected the “false choice” between “low-rise sprawl into the green belt” and “soulless tower blocks”, arguing that homes should be liveable, attractive and welcomed by neighbours.

He added that beauty in the built environment should not be the preserve of the wealthy, but something available to everyone.

Fixing the housing crisis and “restoring pride” in communities are two of the biggest current challenges, according to Mr Cleverly.

During his party’s time in government, there were 16 housing ministers between 2010 and 2024.

One of them was Rachel Maclean, who told Inside Housing in 2023 that she “does not recognise” official data showing falling numbers of social rent homes being built, as she sought to justify her claim that the government had built “record” numbers of social homes.