Prime Minister Andy Burnham has put housing back at the centre of the government’s domestic agenda, promising a major council housebuilding drive, stronger powers over empty and substandard homes, help for first-time buyers and leasehold reform before Christmas. In a fresh public statement, Burnham argued that secure housing should be treated as essential national infrastructure rather than simply as an asset traded through the property market.
Andy Burnham sets out his housing agenda, including council housebuilding, empty homes and leasehold reform.
“With a good home, everything is possible. Without one, it feels like nothing is.” Andy Burnham, Prime Minister
The intervention largely reinforces the housing programme Burnham set out at the Labour Party Conference, but its implications extend well beyond Westminster politics. For councils, developers, housing associations, contractors, consultants and the wider construction supply chain, the direction of travel points towards a much bigger role for publicly backed housing delivery and greater intervention in the condition and ownership of existing stock.
Burnham Wants Council Housebuilding Back at Scale
Burnham has pledged what he describes as the biggest council housebuilding programme since the post-war period. The government has already committed to a 10-year £39bn Social and Affordable Homes Programme, designed to increase the delivery of council, social and affordable housing across England.
Initial allocations announced in August totalled almost £10bn, with ministers saying councils would take a larger role in future housing delivery. The shift matters for the construction industry because council-led programmes can create long-term pipelines of repeat housing work rather than relying entirely on individual private-sector developments. Burnham has also said unused public land should play a greater role in making new council homes financially viable.
New Council Homes Could Be Protected From Right-to-Buy
One of the most significant policy changes is Burnham’s proposed reform of Right-to-Buy. Existing council tenants would retain their current rights, but Burnham has said newly constructed council homes should be removed from Right-to-Buy so that they remain within the public housing stock for future generations. The Prime Minister has linked that approach to what he describes as the long-term reduction in council housing since the 1980s. For local authorities, the policy could materially change the economics of developing new council stock because assets built with public funding would be expected to remain available for social use over the long term.
Councils Could Get Stronger Powers Over Empty Homes
Burnham also wants councils to make greater use of existing housing rather than relying solely on new construction. He has promised stronger powers to take control of long-term empty properties and return them to occupation. The government has already announced changes to Empty Dwelling Management Orders, reducing the period a property generally needs to have been vacant before intervention from two years to six months. Under an EDMO, ownership does not automatically transfer to the council. Instead, the authority can take over management of the property for a period and bring it back into use. Burnham’s wider language suggests ministers are prepared to go further where properties remain empty or owners refuse to cooperate.
Poor Rental Homes Face Tougher Intervention
The government is also targeting privately rented homes in serious disrepair. Burnham said landlords responsible for the worst housing conditions would first be required to improve their properties. If they refuse, he wants councils to have an easier route to acquiring those homes, with further legislation if required. Existing powers already allow local authorities to intervene where serious hazards such as damp and mould are not addressed, including fines in certain circumstances. The more significant development would be a stronger connection between persistent disrepair and the eventual transfer or compulsory acquisition of housing stock.
“We don’t let people sell food which damages health. So why allow it with homes? From now on, we won’t.” Andy Burnham
Your First Home Targets the Deposit Barrier
Alongside the expansion of public housing, Burnham is also attempting to stimulate new private home ownership. The government’s Your First Home programme is expected to allow eligible first-time buyers purchasing participating new-build homes to use a deposit of around 2.5%, supported by a 20% government-backed equity loan. Detailed income limits, property price caps, implementation arrangements and costs are expected to be confirmed at the Budget. The government says the scheme is intended particularly for buyers who cannot rely on financial support from parents.
For housebuilders, it could also create an additional source of demand for new-build homes at a time when affordability and mortgage costs remain constraints on sales. However, demand-side housing support remains contested. Critics of previous equity-loan schemes have argued that buyer subsidies can increase prices if additional demand is not matched by sufficient new supply.
Leasehold Reform Bill Promised Before Christmas
Burnham has also reiterated that legislation on leasehold reform will be introduced before Christmas. A draft Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill published earlier in 2026 proposed making commonhold the default form of ownership for most new flats and banning most new leasehold flats. The draft framework also proposed a £250 annual cap on many existing ground rents before they eventually fall to a peppercorn, alongside reforms to the enforcement system. For developers, managing agents and the residential property sector, the transition towards commonhold could be one of the biggest structural changes to flat ownership in England and Wales for decades.
Everyone In Remains the Rough-Sleeping Policy
Burnham has also repeated his commitment to the permanent Everyone In policy, aimed at ending the need for people to sleep rough. The government announced additional funding earlier this year to expand accommodation and support intended to move people off the streets. Burnham has presented rough sleeping, council housebuilding and housing quality as parts of the same policy rather than separate programmes.
What Does This Mean for UK Construction?
For the construction sector, the significance lies in the scale and combination of the proposed interventions.
£39bn – 10-year Social and Affordable Homes Programme
Almost £10bn – initial programme allocations announced in August 2026
More council-led housing development
Greater use of public land for housing
Long-term retention of newly built council homes
More refurbishment of empty and substandard housing
Potential demand stimulus for new-build homes through Your First Home
Major tenure reform for future apartment developments
There is nevertheless a substantial gap between political ambition and physical delivery. Councils will need land, planning capacity, design teams, procurement resources and viable contractor markets. Developers will need confidence that first-time-buyer support translates into sustainable demand. Housing associations and local authorities will need the financial capacity to maintain additional stock once it is built.
Construction inflation, utilities capacity, planning delays, building safety requirements and shortages in parts of the skilled workforce will also influence how quickly programmes can move from funding announcements to completed homes.
Housing Policy Is Moving From Supply Alone to Control of Stock
The most notable feature of Burnham’s housing agenda is that it is not focused exclusively on building more homes. The government is simultaneously proposing to build new council homes, retain more of them permanently, return empty homes to occupation, intervene against poor-quality landlords, support first-time buyers and change the ownership structure of new flats.
That represents a broader form of housing-market intervention than a simple housebuilding target. Whether it ultimately produces the volume of homes Burnham is promising will depend on the detail of the legislation, funding settlements and the ability of the construction industry and local authorities to deliver. But for contractors, developers and housing professionals, the message from Downing Street is increasingly clear: housing is becoming one of the government’s central construction and infrastructure priorities.
Sources: Prime Minister Andy Burnham; Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government; Social and Affordable Homes Programme; Your First Home policy announcement; Empty Dwelling Management Order reforms; Draft Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill.
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Expert Verification & Authorship:
Mihai Chelmus Founder & Editor, London Construction Magazine | Construction Testing & Investigation Specialist |