According to the Labour Party website the Labour Party have achieved the following in their time in power:

Why Labour?

Labour believes everyone should have access to a decent home, at an affordable price, in the area where they want to live. We have made real progress since 1997 in tackling Britain’s housing challenges, turning around a £19 billion maintenance backlog in Britain’s social housing stock which the Tories left behind. There are over a million more home owners; and we have delivered major improvements in social housing conditions, and taken action to cut homelessness by two thirds.

In difficult economic times, Labour is committed to doing everything possible to provide support for borrowers facing difficulties, and promoting the long-term stability of the market. We are taking action to support homeowners through the downturn, introducing the Homeowner Mortgage Support Scheme and other measures to help prevent repossessions. We have put in place new arrangements to make it easier for local authorities and housing associations to deliver a new generation of affordable housing, while working to support the construction industry.

Key achievements:

* The Decent Homes scheme has helped to deliver over £20 billion investment for major improvements in social housing conditions – lifting over one million households out of cold, damp or poor housing and turning round the £19 billion maintenance backlog left by the Tories in 1997.
* Over three quarters of all new homes are now built on previously developed brownfield land, up from 56 per cent in 1997.
* Rough sleeping has dropped by over two thirds and homelessness is at its lowest level since the early 1980s.
* Abolished stamp duty for people buying houses through one of the existing shared ownership schemes.
* Allocated government funding to buy up unsold properties to use as affordable housing.
* We are establishing Local Authority Housing Companies, giving local authorities a greater say and role in building new affordable housing.

New Labour, your Britain:

* We have announced a £1 billion package of support for homeowners and first time buyers to: Help first time buyers get onto the housing ladder with increased shared equity support; Help homeowners in difficulty; Support the house-building industry; and Bring forward £400 million of government spending to deliver up to 5,500 new social rented homes over the next eighteen months.
* We have extended the stamp duty holiday on properties under £175,000 to the end of 2009.
* We have set a goal that from 2016 all new homes should be zero carbon.
* We are putting in place arrangements to allow local authorities and housing associations to start delivering a new generation of social housing.
* In Budget 2009, we announced a £600 million funding package to build more homes through unlocking sites currently sitting dormant.

Labour Party Housing Policy :http://www.labour.org.uk/housing

I would be interested to hear both positive and negative views on Labour’s Housing policies in the comments below?