<p>Political jousting was the order of the day at the HBF Policy conference on March 24 as three senior politicians addressed delegates to lay out their plans for housing if their party is in power post May 7.</p> <p>Housing minister Brandon Lewis detailed many of the initiatives that this government has introduced to help the housing market and stressed that there would be more of the same if the Conservatives are in government. He summed up the coalition’s approach as having:</p> <p> </p> <p>* given back control of the planning system to local communities</p> <p>* put the economic conditions in place that encourages investment in housing and infrastructure</p> <p>* supported homeownership</p> <p> </p> <p>“We have come a long way down the road of recovery, but we have not completed that journey,” he said.</p> <p> </p> <p>Shadow minister Emma Reynolds countered by suggesting to the conference that despite the mass of initiatives launched by the coalition, there was no plan. This would be different under Labour, which would take forward the ideas of the Lyons Review: “This forms a roadmap for Labour to deliver its target of 200,000 homes a year by 2020.”</p> <p> </p> <p>Communities minister and Liberal Democrat spokesperson …