Despite once claiming it would abolish Section 21 evictions “on its first day in office”, Labour appears to have gone cool on rental reform and other housing issues.

Party leader Sir Kier Starmer and in particular his deputy Angela Rayner – the shadow housing secretary – used to put housing as one of the main objectives of a Labour government. But the whole issue failed to reach the ‘Big Six’ issues the party would tackle first if it forms a government.

Instead Starmer has listed what he calls “missions [which] are long term, fully funded aims that will guide a Labour government’s decisions to deliver a decade of national renewal.”

These are:

Deliver economic stability with “tough spending rules, so we can grow our economy and keep taxes, inflation and mortgages as low as possible.”

Cut NHS waiting times with “40,000 more evening and weekend appointments each week, paid for by cracking down on tax avoidance and non-doms.”

Launch a new Border Security Command with “hundreds of new specialist investigators and counter-terror powers to smash criminal gangs and strengthen our borders.”

Set up Great British Energy, “a publicly-owned clean power company, to cut bills for good and boost energy security, paid for by a windfall tax on oil and gas giants.”

Crack down on antisocial behaviour, “with more neighbourhood police paid for by ending wasteful contracts, tough new penalties for offenders, and a new network of youth hubs.”

Recruit 6,500 new teachers “in key subjects to set children up for life, work and the future, paid for by ending tax breaks for private schools.”

Pro-rent reform activists have reacted angrily with a particularly strong article on the Big Issue website, contrasting Starmer’s approach to some housing policies with those of former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.