The housing market is broken, Oldham now has over nine-thousand families waiting for a socially rented home and almost five-hundred families living in temporary accommodation.

It’s not just the social housing sector where people are struggling, private renters are also feeling the squeeze. Recent Labour Party analysis shows that rents in Oldham have risen by an average of £168 a month over the past two years and recent stats from Oldham’s Housing Options Service show that ‘the end of private rented tenancy’ is the second biggest single reason for people needing temporary accommodation from the Council, after being asked to leave by family members.

Mortgage holders are still reeling from the financial crash caused by Liz Truss’s unfunded tax cuts which saw mortgage rates go through the roof and the ongoing Tory mishandling of the economy which means interest rates are likely to remain around 6% for some time.[i] High interest rates either mean some people can’t afford to keep paying their mortgage and some landlords raise private sector rents to meet rising interest levels while some landlords give up entirely, making tenants homeless.

Leader of the Labour Party Keir Starmer confirmed last week that Labour will be bold and take action to build the homes Oldham needs, pledging 1.5m new homes across the UK over 5 years. He also said Labour will build new towns with the infrastructure residents need led by Local Plans developed by Councils in consultation with their residents. He said “Sometimes the old Labour ideas are right for new times. So where there are good jobs, where there is good infrastructure, where there is good land for affordable homes, then we will get shovels in the ground, cranes in the sky, and build the next generation of Labour new towns.”

Angela Rayner, Deputy Leader, pledged new council homes funded by making s106 agreements stick and that Labour will introduce a Renters’ Charter to give certainty to renters.

Councillor Elaine Taylor, Cabinet Member for Housing and Licensing said “Labour will get Britain’s future back, building the homes Oldham needs. This country badly needs a change from 13 years of Tory failure – and Labour has a plan to get our country back on its feet. The Labour Party is the only party with a plan to tackle homelessness and protect renters.

“The Tories have failed the nation completely when it comes to housing, they’re not even half way to meeting their national housebuilding target. Here in Oldham we have already passed our target for the year, showing that only Labour can deliver for Oldham.”

“Households in Oldham have taken a hammering from the Conservatives’ cost of living crisis over the last two years – yet at Tory Conference, instead of the support they need, all they got were insults and inactivity.

“The choice for Oldhamers is, between the Conservatives that crashed the economy and made the rest of us pay the price for years to come or the Labour Party who believe that everyone deserves decent and affordable homes.”

[i] https://assets.kpmg.com/content/dam/kpmg/uk/pdf/2023/09/uk-economic-outlook.pdf