Darren Rodwell is leader of the council in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham in east London. He is also standing as the Labour candidate to become MP for Barking in the 4 July general election and is this week’s guest on the Home Truths podcast.

Born in Barking and brought up in Dagenham, Rodwell’s declared aim has been to deliver 50,000 homes in his borough by 2037 through partnerships with developers. He is credited with achieving the largest number of social or affordable housing starts in any London borough and claims to have delivered 20% of all of the capital’s new starts for this tenure each year for the past five years.

In today’s interview, which is released just days after the election was announced, Rodwell explains how the council has increased housing supply via Be First, its urban regeneration arm, and Reside, which provides rental homes at 50% to 80% of market rates.

He also talks extensively about how growing up on the Becontree Estate shaped his politics, how his model for working with the private sector helps to de-risk the construction of new homes and his nine-point proposal for housebuilding in Britain. 

Also listen to: 

>> Episode 1: In conversation with Peter Freeman at Homes England

>> Episode 2: In conversation with Jennie Daly at Taylor Wimpey

>> Episode 3: In conversation with Toby Lloyd, former No 10 adviser

Jackie Sadek and Peter Bill, the podcasts’ co-hosts, quiz Rodwell over Labour’s decision to stick with the Tories’ housing target of 1.5 million homes over the course of the next parliament.

While he defends the need for targets in principle, he says he puts more importance on politicians communicating a vision for housing in 21st-century Britain. “The target for me is to make sure that one child in every classroom in London is not homeless,” he says.

Here are some extracts from the interview, which is available to listen to via the player above or wherever you get your podcasts.