Jeremy Corbyn to claim Conservatives 'will never fix housing crisis'

Labour councils building on average nearly 1,000 more homes than their Tory counterparts are an example of what the party would do to fix the housing crisis if it wins the general election, Jeremy Corbyn will say.

Mr Corbyn will highlight House of Commons library analysis which shows that Labour councils have built on average 2,577 new homes from 2010 to this year, compared with 1,679 in Tory-led areas.

The Labour-commissioned study showed Liberal Democrat councils performing slightly worse than the Tories, building on average 1,660.

On a visit to Harlow on Thursday, Mr Corbyn will repeat his pledge to build a million homes over five years, half of which would be council houses.

He will also highlight official figures that show that housebuilding fell to 140,660 homes in 2016, 2,000 fewer than the previous year, and affordable housebuilding at a 24-year low.

"Britain faces a housing crisis, with runaway rents and unaffordable housing," the Labour leader will say.

"The system is rigged, with housing treated as an investment for the few, not homes for the many.

"Seven years of Conservative failure ... shows that they will never fix the housing crisis, which is holding so many people back.

"Labour councils build more homes than Conservative ones.

"The next Labour government will build a million homes, at least half of them council homes, so that we build a Britain for the many, not the few."

Shadow secretary of state for housing John Healey said: "From falling home-ownership to rising homelessness, Britain has a desperate housing crisis and needs many more good homes.

"These new figures show that Labour in power means building more homes for local people.

"Tory ministers talk about getting Britain building, but their own local councils are lagging behind."

Housing Minister Gavin Barwell MP said: "Under Theresa May's strong and stable leadership, we recently set out a clear plan to build more affordable housing - and the number of housing starts is up by three quarters since 2010.

"A vote for anyone else at this election risks putting Jeremy Corbyn into Downing Street, propped up by the Lib Dems and the SNP in a coalition of chaos. When Labour last crashed the economy, housebuilding fell to the lowest peacetime levels since the 1920s.

"Think about what would happen under Corbyn."