Ed Balls wants more affordable homes built

Labour leadership hopeful Ed Balls wants to see 100,000 more affordable homes built in this country to help reduce the chronic supply shortage of new homes and create more jobs at a cost of around £6bn.

In a speech today the shadow schools secretary will attempt to boost support for his campaign to become leader of the opposition party by calling on the coalition government to spend more money on providing a greater number of affordable homes.

Balls believes that the construction of more affordable housing will help provide more people with accommodation, generate fresh jobs in the construction industry, which in turn should stimulate the fragile economic recovery.

In an article for the LabourList website, he commented: "The public finances are around £12bn healthier than forecast at the time of the budget. The coalition government wants to use the extra money to pay down the deficit faster.

"I think that at a time when the economy is still so fragile and other countries are already tipping back into recession, we should instead use that money to boost construction jobs and build new homes. By using half of that £12bn, a £6bn investment this year and next, we could build 100,000 extra affordable homes which it's been estimated would create up to 750,000 new jobs, directly in the construction industry and indirectly in the supply chain including thousands of apprenticeships for young people."

There is mounting speculation that Ed Balls will push the position of shadow chancellor if he fails in his attempt to become Labour leader.