Cross-Party Housing Initiative Emerges to Tackle London's Construction Crisis
A new political organization named Build for Britain has been launched with the explicit goal of shaping housing policy across the United Kingdom, with particular focus on addressing the acute shortage in London. The group represents an unusual collaboration between Reform UK and Conservative Party figures, seeking to bridge traditional political divides on one of the nation's most pressing issues.
Unlikely Alliance Forms Around Housing Agenda
Alex Wilson, a Reform UK London Assembly Member who has represented his party at City Hall since 2024, has joined forces with former Conservative Housing Secretary Simon Clarke to co-chair this new initiative. Their organization aims to directly influence both Reform UK leader Nigel Farage and Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch as the next General Election approaches in 2026.
"We recognise that both of our parties have to have a pro-development agenda," Mr. Wilson explained in an interview with the Local Democracy Reporting Service. "It's about trying to do what we can with this organization to shape the policy agenda of both parties."
Specific Policy Proposals Target Regulatory Barriers
Briefing documents obtained by journalists reveal several concrete policy recommendations that Build for Britain has already agreed upon:
- Abolishing stamp duty entirely to reduce transaction costs
- Limiting the Building Safety Regulator's role to only high-risk cases
- Empowering Mayoral authorities with greater decision-making powers
- Creating shorter, simpler Local Plans for local authorities
- Developing a long-term National Infrastructure Plan for certainty in energy, transport, housing and utilities investment
Mr. Wilson specifically criticized current planning processes, stating: "We need to make decisions happen more quickly - there's a lot of projects that get stuck in the pipeline. It takes too long to get decisions from local councils and too long for those decisions to be stamped by the planning team here at City Hall."
London's Housing Crisis Reaches Critical Levels
The housing situation in London has become particularly dire, with the Mayor tasked with building 88,000 homes annually but facing significant shortfalls. Housing starts have plummeted by 84 percent since 2016, and City Hall appears likely to miss its latest affordable housing targets.
"It means that the next generation are really struggling to get on the housing ladder," Mr. Wilson emphasized. "If you moved to London today as a young person, you're basically not going to get on the housing ladder, and you're stuck in that perpetual cycle of rent."
While Mayor Sadiq Khan and his deputy for housing, Tom Copley, have consistently pointed to soaring interest rates, rising construction costs, and Building Safety Regulator delays as primary causes for the slowdown, critics argue the Mayor's administration could be doing substantially more to address the crisis.
London-Specific Approaches Under Development
Though specific London policies remain under discussion, Mr. Wilson indicated that examining higher density development around existing transport hubs and within inner London would be on the agenda. This approach aligns with comments made by Nigel Farage last month when announcing Reform UK's candidate for Mayor of London, where he suggested London must build upward rather than sprawling onto Green Belt land.
The organization plans an official launch event next month, which will feature Shadow Housing Secretary James Cleverly as a speaker, further blurring partisan lines on this critical issue. Mr. Clarke, who served as Housing Secretary during Liz Truss's brief tenure as Prime Minister, will chair the project in what represents a rare moment of cooperation between Reform UK and Conservative figures.
"We are bringing perspectives from both parties to try and work together on this because there are some issues that are so much more important than just the traditional political party divide," Mr. Wilson concluded, while acknowledging that "in the General Election the gloves will go back off again."
