Reform Falsely Claim Andy Burnham Built Zero Social Housing as Mayor

As Andy Burnham prepares to step into Kier Starmer’s shoes, he will be given no grace period  by the turbulent political landscape we see today.

Sian Astley, the Reform UK candidate to replace Burnham as Manchester Mayor claimed on the Reform podcast earlier in July that the Greater Manchester region “hadn’t built social housing in decades”, a comment that went unchecked and unquestioned by the podcast host, Ray Addison.

The commentary surrounding Mr Burnham isn’t the first time Reform talking points surrounding social housing have been exposed as false. Last year, a Reform spokesperson claimed that the majority of social housing was being assigned to foreign nationals. The claim was debunked by independent analysis from OnLondon, who after speaking to the G15 established 17% of social lets went to foreign nationals in the capital, against a backdrop of 89% of social lets in England having UK nationals as the lead tenant.

Official government figures will show that throughout Burnham’s tenure, thousands of social homes have been built across the region, with 439 being built in the last year. Reform UK told The Independent that Astley had in fact misspoken, and that the intended message was that social housing had not been a priority for Burnham and the GMCA.

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Burnham recently crossed the threshold of support needed to cement himself as the next Labour leader, and will be sworn in as Prime Minister on Monday 20th July.

Burnham’s rhetoric in the build up to his coronation has been focused on social housing, promising post-war levels of council housebuilding in response to the raging housing crisis. Burnham has not ruled out further taxation, including a wealth tax, to fund the expansion, something that has added fuel to the fire of many of his critics. Burnham has however said he would stick to his the pledges made by his party in the 2024 election, and not increase VAT, income tax or national insurance.

In an interview with Match of the Day’s Gary Lineker, Burnham said he wanted to focus on bringing people together rather than creating further division, and that he believes we need a “greater sense of fairness”.

Reform’s Nigel Farage is expected to be the main opposition for Burnham at the next general election, should he make it that far. Social housing has been a talking point for both leaders, with Farage recently promising to ban foreign nationals from social housing entirely, as well as threatening deportation should they not be able to find private accommodation. The conflicting viewpoints of the two leaders mirror a widening division that can be seen within the British public, as political and cultural tension reaches boiling point.