Miliband, making a speech at the party’s conference, said Labour would force developers to use land and build new houses or further action would be taken.

“There’s nine million people in this country renting a home, many of whom would want to buy” he said.

“We don’t just have a cost of living crisis, we have a housing crisis too.

“We will say to private developers you can’t just sit on land and refuse to build. We’ll give them a very clear message, either use the land or lose the land.”

Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls yesterday warned the government’s Help to Buy scheme would price fail to help first-time buyers and would result in increased house prices.

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Miliband told the audience in Brighton that Labour would dramatically increase house building if it came to power, creating 200,000 homes each year by the end of the next parliament.

“We’ll say to local authorities that they have a right to grow and that neighbouring authorities can’t just stop them. We’ll identify new towns and garden cities.

“We will have a clear aim that by the end of the parliament Britain will be building 200,000 homes a year, more than at any time in a generation.”

Miliband also outlined plans to cap energy prices while an earlier speech by Hilary Benn saw a policy to create a register for all landlords in England unveiled.