UK government faces challenges in meeting 1.5 million homes target

"The prime minister wants us to make sure we're building council houses. He's made that absolutely, fundamentally clear," she said.

"We're seeing home starts up by 15% last year, so we are making a difference."

Prime Minister Andy Burnham has promised "the biggest council house building programme since the post-war period" - although he has not provided details on exactly what this will entail.

BBC Verify analysis showed a decline in the number of new houses being built during Labour's first year in power - continuing a fall that began under the Conservatives.

Rayner's predecessor in the role, Steve Reed, last year admitted a sharp surge in construction would be needed to reach the goal - but said he expected it would just about be met once the impact of planning reforms took hold.

Analysts have said reforms introduced by Sir Keir Starmer's government should help increase construction in the long term, including changing the rules on green belt development to increase the area in which homes can be built.

But some argue that construction is being held back by factors including high house prices relative to average incomes, higher costs due to global conflict and labour shortages since Brexit.

BBC Verify has been tracking performance against the target using government data on Energy Performance Certificates (EPC). Each newly created dwelling must have an EPC by law, making it the most timely indicator of new homes being built.

Data for the 12 months to June 2026 suggested about 203,000 new homes were delivered in England that year, far short of the 300,000 needed to meet the target.