Cooper pledges £8bn for new homes

Yvette Cooper has said that housing must become "the progressive struggle of the 21st century," and has announced an £8 billion fund for building affordable homes around the UK.

Speaking at the Labour Party conference in Bournemouth, the housing minister promised to boost the number of social homes to 45,000 by 2010 and 50,000 shortly afterwards, up from a current level of 30,000.

Ms Cooper also criticised the Conservatives for their perceived blocking of new home starts, claiming that David Cameron's party were only prepared to agree to new homes if they were built outside of their constituencies.

"Never again should we tolerate the housing apartheid that decades of new development delivered in Britain," Ms Cooper declared.

However, the Liberal Democrats attacked the minister for 'glossing over' Labour's record on housing seen over the past decade.

Waiting lists for national housing that are forcing millions to reside in sub-standard accommodation in the interim are "a national disgrace", according to Lib Dem shadow housing minister Paul Holmes.


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