THE word stability carries a certain kind of weight. For some of us, it means financial security, a job. For others, stability can be what comes after a health scare, or upheaval. Stability can be a moment in time, a feeling, a flash of something we wish we had more of, or something to aim for.

I know from knocking on doors in many elections, that stability wears many faces and that it can arrive in many different forms. And yet there is one word that comes up consistently when I hear stability on the doorstep. That word is: housing.

After the Tories’ housing crisis, we have more than 1.3-million families stuck on housing waiting lists and over 165,000 children growing up in temporary accommodation across the nation. In Cornwall, as a whole, that picture is even starker. We have far lower levels of council/social housing than other parts of the country. Only 11 per cent of our housing stock is social housing; the countrywide average is 18 per cent.

Last week, deputy Prime Minister and Housing Secretary Angela Rayner set out a five step plan to fix this, and secure the council houses and affordable homes that this country needs so badly.

Firstly, we will deliver the biggest boost to grant funding in a generation with £39-billion of investment in a new Social and Affordable Homes Programme that will deliver up to 300,000 homes over the next ten years. This will include 180,000 homes, at least 60 per cent of the programme, for social rent that are linked to local incomes.

Secondly, we will rebuild the sector’s capacity to borrow and invest in new and existing housing, making £2.5-billion of low-interest loans available to support the delivery of new social and affordable housing.

Thirdly, we will give social housing providers updated, modern standards to follow that are suitable for the next decade and beyond, prioritising the things that are most important for tenants. There are consultations going on at the moment on new standards and requirements so that social landlords have a clear roadmap to work to.

Fourthly, this Labour government wants a council housing revolution. We will ensure that councils will be able to keep 100 per cent of the receipts generated by Right to Buy sales, and we’ll exempt newly built social homes from Right to Buy for 35 years, so that councils are better able to build and buy new homes. That's a big change, and the right one.

Lastly, we'll make a new partnership to begin a new era of social housebuilding for this Parliament and beyond. It will take everyone pulling in the same direction to build the council houses that we need.

Cornwall's waiting list for housing is 28,000 households and we have over 800 households in temporary and emergency accommodation. We must get that figure down, if we're to deliver the stability so many of us want to see and feel.