We urgently need good quality, affordable housing. In England, the average home costs nearly 8 times the median average salary . Over 1 in 6 young adults are living in unfit homes, where hazards like overcrowding, damp and mould are alarmingly common. Over 350,000 people are homeless. We need to build – and we can do it better.

Right now, too many housing developments are driven by profit margins, not people’s needs. Private developers often build poor-quality homes without considering the communities who will live in them – or worse, sit on undeveloped land while demand skyrockets.

It doesn't need to be this way.

Community-led housing models – like housing co-ops and community land trusts – offer a real alternative. These homes are shaped by the people who live in and around them, and owned in ways that lock in affordability and community benefit for the long term. Homes that are built with people, not just for them.

It's about saying "Yes in our backyard" – building homes that communities own, design, and afford.

Community-led housing could give us the power to build the homes people desperately need in a way that is genuinely affordable and that builds fairer communities around them. And it works – from New York to Norway, these models are already delivering high-quality, affordable homes that people can build a life and community in. But here in the UK, community-led housing is still the exception, not the norm.

The Co-operative Party are fighting to put community-led housing on the agenda. We need your help not just to build housing, but to build communities. Will you add your name in support today?