Basildon Council pledges 4,000 new council homes by 2036 against a 3,629-household waiting list

Basildon Borough Council has committed to building 4,000 new council homes across the borough by 2036, framed by Labour leader Gavin Callaghan as the largest investment in council housing in Basildon's 77-year history. As of January 2026 the council had 3,629 households on the social housing register, and the new pledge sits alongside an emerging Local Plan that proposes 26,909 homes borough-wide to 2043, with around 7,725 earmarked for the Billericay area. For buyers, that scale of pipeline is a slow drip rather than a near-term price signal; for sellers, the longer-run risk is supply-side pressure on the borough's lower-end private sale and rental stock. Delivery is the test, not the announcement.