The housing, communities and local government secretary said that within a month of taking office, she was asked if she wanted to review Labour’s housing target.
“I wasn’t going to give up on the target,” she said.
She said she was personally “determined to meet that 1.5 million target” and said policies such as reforming the planning system would “take time” to have an impact.
She added: “There are no excuses to not build those homes that people desperately need.
“And we mean business on this, because far too many people are not getting these homes.”
Gillian Keegan, a former Conservative MP and education secretary, told the programme the pace of housebuilding was “too slow”.
She said the Conservatives had also promised to build more than 1.5 million new homes in its 2024 election manifesto, adding that the party had made “a lot of progress” when in government “but the reality is, it’s still too slow”.
“The highest number we got to was about 249,000 in one year,” she said.
“Now obviously we had to navigate Brexit, Covid and a war in Europe at the time.
“But that shows you the size of the challenge.”
Labour hopes building more homes will reduce house prices and make buying and renting homes more affordable, especially for younger people.
Its target means building an average of 300,000 new homes a year – a number not achieved since the 1970s.
In recent years, the number of new homes built annually has been considerably below that figure.
The housing industry has expressed doubts about Labour’s housing target and whether it can be reached by 2029.
The construction industry has warned it is dealing with a chronic shortage of skilled workers.
There are also concerns about the availability of basic building materials, including bricks and timber.
And many housing experts are unsure whether private housebuilders are able or willing to deliver enough new homes each year.
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