Andy Burnham’s flagship pledge to end homelessness is now looking much more challenging as GB News has exposed the true impact of mass migration.
Britain’s population has increased by nearly four million since the public voted for Brexit back in 2016.
The nearly six per cent rise, which the Office for National Statistics has attributed “mainly to international migration”, comes despite more than 1.2million Britons emigrating abroad in the five years to December 2025.
The dramatic rise, highlighted in a Facts4EU report produced in collaboration with Stand for Our Sovereignty (SOS) and The Campaign for an Independent Britain (CIBUK), means England alone requires accommodation for roughly 242,000 additional households a year over the next decade.
When Labour came to power in 2024, they set a target of 1.5 million new homes in England by the end of this Parliament, which equalled roughly 300,000 homes per year.
Shortly after winning the election, Housing Secretary Angela Rayner increased the annual target to 370,000 in July 2024.
She told the Commons: “We are therefore updating the standard method and raising the overall targets from around 300,000 to approximately 370,000.”
However, despite Labour’s pledge, the number of houses built in England per year has dropped consistently year on year.
With only 33,630 homes being built in the first quarter of this year, the expected figure for 2026 is 135,000, only around 36.5 per cent of the 370,000-home goal.
In addition, 1.34 million households were on local authority housing waiting lists in England at March 31, 2025, the highest figure for more than a decade.
Lord Redwood, former Secretary of State, exclusively told GB News and Facts4EU: “A fair policy needs to start with much reduced migration. We should not allow more people into our country when we cannot provide enough decent homes for them and for the settled population.
“The UK hasn’t been building enough homes to keep up with the massive demand from migrants in recent years. The excess demand for homes has put rents through the roof and driven up prices for purchase.
Despite Labour’s pledge when coming to power, the number of houses built in England per year has dropped consistently year on year
He added: “Bad landlords have rented out poor and sometimes illegal accommodation to illegal migrants, bringing many more homes in multiple occupation into use without proper services.
“This has left many young Brits unable to afford a home of their own. Voters think it wrong if illegal migrants get to the front of the queue for social housing when tens of thousands of UK citizens wait for years.”
David Jones, former Conservative cabinet minister, now Reform UK, exclusively told GB News and Facts4EU: “The Government’s own official figures illustrate the stark truth that Britain is experiencing population growth on a scale that is simply incompatible with any realistic housing strategy.
“No country can sensibly admit people at historically exceptional levels while failing to provide the homes and infrastructure needed to support both new arrivals and the existing population.
“The starting point must therefore be to bring both legal and illegal immigration rigorously under control. Unless we do that, every attempt to solve the housing crisis will be overwhelmed by ever-increasing demand. That is the unavoidable message of the Government’s own statistics.
“Unless ministers are prepared to address that fundamental issue, they will continue to fail a generation of young people who simply want the chance to have a decent home of their own.”
Lord Redwood added: “Angela Rayner calls her self-imposed target of 1.5 m new homes in 5 years ‘challenging’. She should come clean and admit it is pie in the sky.
“In the first two years of this Government, housing completions have fallen, not risen. They are running at under half the rate required. She now needs to get the rate up to 350,000 a year.
“She is doing nothing to get high mortgage rates down. Interest rates have been driven much higher by this government as its overspending alarms the lending markets.
“High energy costs and carbon taxes have driven building materials prices to new highs. The jobs tax has made site labour costs dearer. No wonder so many voters now find new homes unaffordable. Builders have to go slow on building because there are not enough buyers.”
