Labour would bring back council house-building targets and hire new officers to deal with the backlog of applications if elected, the party's deputy leader says.

Writing in the Daily Telegraph, Angela Rayner also said the party would introduce a Freedom to Buy mortgage guarantee scheme to support first-time buyers as part of the party's plans to ‘fix our broken housing market'.

‘Our promise is that more houses under Labour will also mean more doctors, schools and transport,' she writes.

‘And we'll protect green spaces too. It's a win-win - especially since we can also stop developers from avoiding building social and affordable homes.'

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