Andy Burnham pledges 10,000 council homes and calls for Right to Buy suspension

In an editorial for The Guardian, Mr Burnham wrote: “One of the main reasons why the country has not built enough social homes for decades is because of the Right to Buy policy.

“Councils do not have an incentive to fund the building of new homes if they can be sold off cheaply and quickly.

“In the face of a desperate housing crisis, the existence of Right to Buy means we are in effect trying to refill a bath without being allowed to put the plug back in.”

Across Greater Manchester, 500 social homes were lost over the past year under Right to Buy, he said.

Mr Burnham said that during his new term, he would bring in a ‘good landlord charter’ and give renters the right to request a property check to raise standards. 

He pledged to take tougher enforcement against landlords that rent out unfit and unsafe homes, including making “much greater use” of compulsory purchase powers.

Mr Burnham also suggested that before the next general election, the Labour Party could agree “detailed delivery plans” with its metro mayors for what will be done in their regions to fix the housing crisis within the first term of a Labour government.

“A local plan to build a new generation of council homes”, identifying the brownfield sites and putting a number on delivery within a parliament would be “very meaningful indeed”, he added.

Mr Burnham cruised to a third four-year term on 4 May, winning 63.4% of the vote share in Greater Manchester compared with his Conservative opponent Laura Evans’ 10.4%.

His fellow Labour metro mayors Sadiq Khan and Tracy Brabin were re-elected, while Labour challenger Richard Parker won a narrow victory in the West Midlands.