Member Article

Labour government would build more Yorkshire homes says Ed Miliband

Ed Miliband, leader of the Labour party visited a Pudsey development to promote housebuilding in Yorkshire.

David Wilson Homes, a Yorkshire housebuilders hosted the visit from Mr. Miliband, at a housing development in West Yorkshire, as he made calls for more homes to be built across Yorkshire and the UK.

This visit coincides with the announcement from NHBC that annual figures for new home registrations in the UK increased by 28% in 2013, compared to 2012, which is the highest number of registrations since the economic downturn in 2007.

Miliband visited a David Wilson Homes development, which boasts 25% affordable housing, to further promote the need for more homes, including affordable homes, which he says would happen under a new Labour government.

David Wilson Homes is part of Barratt Developments plc., which announced earlier this year that it would be launching 11 new sites over the next 12 months across South and West Yorkshire, in areas including Leeds, Bradford, Wakefield and Rotherham, and a further 12 new sites in East Yorkshire in areas including Whitby, Doncaster, York and Hull.

Ed Miliband said: “My thanks go to David Wilson Homes for showing us round its fantastic development in Pudsey today. Britain has an acute housing shortage so we simply have to start building far more homes.

“That’s why the next Labour government will ensure that by 2020 over 200,000 homes are being built every year, and we’ll need companies like David Wilson Homes to help deliver that.

“I’m pleased that the company chief executive Mark Clare is a member of the independent Housing Commission I asked Michael Lyons to establish, to map out a path to achieving the radical increase in house building we need.

“I welcome figures today of an increase in housing starts, but it’s a lamentable fact that building rates under this government remain the lowest since the 1920s.

“One Nation Labour will take the action necessary to tackle the housing crisis, give today’s young people the same opportunities their parents had, and build a sustainable economic recovery which benenfits everyone.

Ian Ruthven, Managing Director at Barratt and David Wilson Homes Yorkshire West, commented: “It was fantastic to welcome Ed Miliband to West Yorkshire and give him a tour of one of our popular developments and talk about our plans for housebuilding in Yorkshire over the next 12 months.

“We work closely with local councils to ensure that we are providing a high level of quality affordable homes and have more than 380 affordable homes planned for 2014 alone across our operating area, including areas where there is high demand for housing such as Wakefield and Leeds.

“Our plans will also support thousands of jobs across Yorkshire and significantly impact the local economy.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Clare Burnett .