Britain's 1.5m Homes Pledge Is Still Alive, but Unlikely

Angela Rayner has said there is only a "slim chance" the government will meet its target of building 1.5m homes before the next election.

She spoke on the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme on 13 September 2026. Rayner called the 1.5m pledge a "stretch target" that was not being ditched. She said she is "definitely not giving up" on it, according to The Guardian.

Rayner spoke as communities secretary, a post she returned to after Andy Burnham became prime minister.

The broader context here is that the admission puts a figure on the risk without dropping the promise. It keeps the public commitment in place while warning it may fall short.

In the same interview, Rayner set out where ministers say progress is being made. She said home starts were up by 15% last year. She pointed to a £10bn programme for social and affordable homes. That money is expected to build 70,000 homes outside London, with about 60% for social rent, which means homes let at lower rents for people on waiting lists. London will get a separate £6bn for affordable homes, to be allocated at a later date.

The 1.5m target dates to the Starmer government, which set a five-year goal to build 1.5m new homes and looked at new towns as an answer to the housing crisis. In July 2024, councils were told they would have to review green belt land — protected countryside around cities where building is normally restricted — if needed to meet housing targets, according to Gov.uk. In December 2024, the government announced a planning overhaul to speed up housebuilding and deliver 1.5 million homes over this Parliament, according to Gov.uk.

That planning push continued this year. In August, planning rules in England were to be loosened to allow more homes near train stations. Rayner was to launch guidance for a 'default yes' on developments near transport hubs, including on green belt sites, according to The Guardian. Think of it like flipping the starting answer from maybe to yes in certain zones, so builders do not have to argue the principle each time.

Rayner's own role has changed in the past year. She offered her resignation as Deputy Prime Minister in September 2025. Prime Minister Keir Starmer then reshaped his top team in a sweeping reshuffle after her exit, according to BBC.

In my view, her return under Burnham keeps a direct link between the original promise and the person now in charge of it. The language also does two jobs at once. It lowers expectations for the headline total while defending the wider plan: higher local targets, green belt reviews, denser building near stations, and funding for social rent. The real test is starts, permissions and completions by tenure, and whether the £10bn outside London and the later £6bn for the capital turn into contracts and sites. The next points to watch are the London allocation, the pace of new-town designations, and whether the transport-hub guidance holds up against local plans and appeals.