Theresa May will announce a “return to council house-building” when she addresses the Conservative Party conference in Manchester.
The Prime Minister is expected to unveil a raft of measures to make it easier for local authorities to create more flats and houses.
In a clear attempt to outflank Jeremy Corbyn on an issue which has been central to Labour’s appeal to young voters, Mrs May will make housing a central feature of a speech in which she will also call on Tories to stop infighting.
(PA graphic)
At the end of a four-day gathering dominated by speculation over a possible bid by Boris Johnson to replace her, she will tell Tories it is time to “shape up” and focus on working for voters rather than obsessing about the leadership.
Close ally Damian Green said Mrs May will also try to neutralise complaints about her robotic style by offering delegates an insight into the personal passions driving her politics.
“I think people will see and hear a more personal speech than you are used hearing from Theresa,” the First Secretary of State told ITV1’s Good Morning Britain.
First Secretary Damian Green (David Cheskin/PA)
“She will be explaining to people what drives her, what makes her so determined to fight for what she sees to be the right things for this country.”
Hinting at the announcements which can be expected from the PM, he added: “There will be more on housing today. She will be talking about social housing and a return to council house-building.”
Mrs May’s intervention comes as charity Shelter releases figures showing that housing is an increasing high political priority for Britain’s growing population of families in private rented accommodation, many of whom are unable to access social housing because of the shortage of homes.
Research among the 4.5 million households renting privately in England showed that they spend an average of 41% of gross income on their accommodation – far higher than families with mortgages or social housing – said Shelter. Some 53% were either struggling to pay or falling behind on their rent.
Private tenants put housing in their top three issues when deciding how to vote and are increasingly motivated to turn out, with 65% casting their ballot on June 8, compared with 51% in 2015.
The 2017 election saw a big swing to Labour among private renters, with its lead growing from 11 to 23 points, said Shelter.
Calling on the Government to build decent homes at affordable prices, the charity’s chief executive, Polly Neate, said: “With little hope of benefiting from schemes like Help to Buy, struggling renters have been sidelined for too long.
“It’s not right that thousands of renters are dipping into hard-earned savings or getting into debt because huge chunks of their salary is being snatched away by eye-watering rents.”
Against a backdrop bearing the slogan “Building a country that works for everyone”, Mrs May will tell her party to “do our duty by Britain”.
She will stress her own determination not to “give up” in the face of challenges and difficulties, as she calls on the party to “dig deep within ourselves” and go forward together.
Her acknowledgement that the Tories need to “shape up” may be seen as a response – conscious or not – to Mr Corbyn’s challenge in Brighton last week for the Government to “pull yourselves together or make way” for Labour.
She is expected to tell activists: “Let us do our duty by Britain. Let us shape up and give the country the Government it needs. For beyond this hall, beyond the gossip pages of the newspapers, and beyond the streets, corridors and meeting rooms of Westminster, life continues – the daily lives of ordinary working people go on. And they must be our focus today.
“Not worrying about our job security, but theirs. Not addressing our concerns, but the issues, the problems, the challenges, that concern them.
Prime Minister Theresa May prepares her party conference speech
(Christopher Furlong/PA)
“Not focusing on our future, but on the future of their children and their grandchildren – doing everything we can to ensure their tomorrow will be better than our today.
“That is what I am in politics for. To make a difference. To change things for the better. To hand on to the next generation a country that is stronger, fairer and more prosperous.”
Mrs May’s grip on the party leadership has been weakened after her gamble of a snap general election backfired, costing the Tories their Commons majority.
And speculation about an imminent move against her was fuelled by the Foreign Secretary’s decision to set out his personal red lines for Brexit negotiations in an eve-of-conference newspaper interview.
Boris Johnson has show support for the PM, but there is speculation over a possible bid by him to replace her (Peter Byrne/PA)
Mr Johnson made a public show of support for the PM in his keynote speech on Tuesday, in which he praised her “steadfastness” over Brexit and her performance in the botched election.
But he came under fire shortly afterwards over comments to a fringe meeting, in which he said that the Libyan city of Sirte has a great future “once it clears the dead bodies”.
His comments were denounced as “crass” by a number of Tory backbenchers, and he was slapped down by Mr Green, who said he needed to be more “careful” in his use of language.