The Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, Lucy Powell, has said that housing should be seen as a fundamental human right.

Giving her first major address to the sector at Housing 2021, Powell hit out at a couple of government policies, while asking for the sector for help when devising policy.

She said: “Housing’s always been a passion of mine. I’ve long campaigned on building safety and cladding issues before I became shadow secretary of state.”

The Manchester Central MP said she fears that the lessons and outcomes from the pandemic will be forgotten, saying: “Everyone In was a remarkable achievement but too soon it has become everyone out again.”

She also branded the potential cut to the £20 Universal Credit uplift “social vandalism” and said the lack of mention of stigma and tenant voice was “a glaring omission” from the Social Housing White Paper.

Powell also claimed that current planning reform proposals “threaten to obliterate” social housing building.

And she called for a change in thinking on social housing more generally.

“Social housing is something that has been stigmatised and not celebrated like it should be.

“The housing crisis is very much a public health issue. Housing has become a commodity or pension pot. Not a cornerstone of a stable and successful life.

“Housing should once again be seen as a fundamental human right.”

Turning her attention to building safety, which she has campaigned on heavily for her constituents, Powell paid tribute to the resident campaigners, adding that she wants to free people from “the waking nightmare” of the crisis.

“The government has been too hands off and left it to the market, making the situation worse,” she added.

Asked in the questions about her vision for housing, she said: “As I start to build Labours plan for housing, I want to work in partnership with you. I don’t have all the answers but I am here asking for your help.”

But she wouldn’t be drawn into giving an definitive answer for ending the Right to Buy, saying that “it is not something we’ve yet decided” was something to explore.

After her main address, Powell also took to the fringe stage, where she delved a little deeper into her thinking on some housing issues.

“Housing is such a massive brief. There are so many issues to get my teeth into. There’s a lot you have to get up to speed on. But with my constituency work, there are a lot of issues that I’m used to dropping into my inbox.

“It is my ambition to make housing top of the agenda. I like to make a noise about things. It is very much moving up the agenda for people, perhaps Westminster hasn’t caught up with that yet.”

She said there was a need to define affordability by earnings, and look at how to overcome the barriers for social housebuilding.

She praised Mayor for Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, for his leadership on homelessness and said the work could be a blueprint to how Labour approaches housing more generally.

Powell also stated: “I hope the time comes when we have a mass social housebuilding programme. The current levels being built are pitiful.”

Also hinting at the Labour Party conference later this month, Powell suggested that there will be big housing announcements, certainly around retrofit and net zero.