Burnham makes first speech as prime minister, Reed steps down as housing sec – Mortgage Strategy

New prime minister Andy Burnham has announced he will set out a 10-year plan for Britain later this year.

Burnham becomes the UK seventh prime minister in just over a decade, taking on the role from Kier Starmer.

Today, Steve Reed also announced he has stepped down as housing secretary.

In his two-page letter to new prime minister Burnham, Reed said: “I am disappointed to be leaving government now, I wish your new team every success.”

Reed took on the role of housing secretary in September last year following the resignation of Angela Rayner over her tax affairs.

Burnham’s first speech

Speaking today, in his first speech as prime minister, Burnham said: “Later this year, I will bring forward a new plan for Britain, a 10-year plan, laying out a path from where we are now to where I believe we all want Britain to be, wherever we’re coming from, whatever party we support.”

He also noted “we will build more council homes”. This comes after he pledged the biggest council house building programme since the post-war period.

In his speech at the end of June, Burnham said the housing crisis is having a “ruinous effect” on public finances.

Housebuilding was one of the flagship domestic policies in former prime minister Keir Starmer’s 2024 general election manifesto, with the ambitious pledge to build 1.5 million new homes during the five-year parliament.

Savills recently forecast that only around half of the government’s annual target of 300,000 new homes would be completed over the next five years.

Commenting on today’s speech from Burnham, Propertymark chief executive Nathan Emerson says: “Propertymark welcomes Andy Burnham to Downing Street, and we look forward to learning more about proposals aimed at addressing current housing concerns. There are many complex challenges that remain regarding the delivery of a sustainable mix of affordable housing across each region.”

“Over the coming months, it will be essential that the sector has a clear opportunity to engage with the UK Government on key housing issues, helping to ensure that the manifesto commitment to deliver 1.5 million homes across England becomes a reality.”

“Looking at the bigger picture, a diverse housing mix must be delivered with a regional focus and supported by robust local infrastructure. Building homes is the challenge; building well-designed, functional communities must be the goal.”

Today, the new prime minister said his first priority is to launch an urgent national drive to end sleeping rough.

Burnham said: “On my first day as Prime Minister, I’m announcing this government’s commitment to finally end long-term rough sleeping across the UK at the earliest opportunity.”

Institute of Economic Affairs senior economist Valentin Boboc comments: “The ongoing problem of rough sleeping shows how serious Britain’s housing shortage is. To tackle this, the Prime Minister should focus on speeding up private housebuilding across the country to make future efforts more cost effective.”