Sky high rents. Sky high house prices. Drastic shortage of social housing. All signs that successive governments have failed to tackle the basic responsibility of ensuring that sufficient new homes, of the right type are being provided to satisfy the demand.

They have controlled things from the centre and left it to market forces (apart from tinkering with planning rules) which is pretty much what has happened over the past 14 years under the Tories. It has not resolved the problem, in fact, it has made matters worse. You don’t believe me? Just check the facts. The origins of the housing crisis go back to the 1980s when Thatcher Government announced the privatisation of social housing and freed up the mortgage market which led to shortage of affordable homes.

House prices have continued to rise at such a rate that young people, having been virtually priced out of the private rented market. At the same time house prices have increased in leaps and bounds pricing them out of getting a mortgage. As a result they are living with parents well into their 20s and 30s. Those lucky enough to get a foot on the ladder are faced with having to live hand to mouth due to the rising cost of living and the scarcity of accessible, well-paid jobs.

On winning the General Election, the new Labour Government quickly reaffirmed its commitment to building 1.5mn homes over the next parliament. It said that this would done on a “brownfield” first basis, whilst taking a “more strategic” approach to the designation and release of green belt land to build “more homes in the right places”. it included a commitment to deliver the “biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation”.

To achieve this, Labour said it would strengthen planning obligations on developers to ensure that new developments provide more affordable homes. Whichever way you look at it they have set a mammoth task for themselves, one which will not be achieved overnight. In fact, given the size of the task ahead, it will probably need more than one parliament to deliver, particularly when considering the need to deliver a “new towns policy and having to tackle “nimbyism”.

One thing I have been unable to find in Labours housing plans is a reference to what they intend to do about “Land Banking”. This is the practice of a number of developers to site on land that has planning permission, sometimes for many years, in order to profit by selling it on, or only to develop it when they consider the price is right.

On the issue of “nimbyism”, Labour would do well to talk with the Liberal Democrats about how some Liberal Democrat controlled councils have tackled the problem by working with residents, in order to deliver new homes which, satisfy the needs of their communities.

It is not easy to get the numbers of new homes delivered to resolve the housing crisis. First off, It should not be seen as just a matter of tinkering around with Planning Legislation. The decision-making process needs to change. What is needed is a more open and inclusive bottom-up approach. This will take time.

Currently we have what is probably one of, if not the most top-down system of similar nations in the developed world. Another difficult task will be rebuilding capacity into local councils to support these changes. 14 years of the Tories defunding local councils has seen many local services cut back to the bone or shutdown all together.

We are in for an interesting few years. Taking back power was never about turning our backs on Europe. It was always about taking shifting power back to the voters. We elect politicians to make decisions on our behalf, not to hold power over us.