Labour wants to build 1.5 million homes. That's the headline. Here's what they're not telling you.

They're not for you.

The average price of a new-build home in England is £365,000. The average salary is £34,000. You'd need a deposit of £36,000 and a combined household income of roughly £90,000 to get a mortgage on one.

So who are they for?

They're for investors. Buy-to-let landlords. Property funds. Foreign buyers who'll never live in them. They're for the pension funds and the housing associations and the developers who donate to political parties.

They're not for the 26-year-old in Sunderland who earns £28,000 and has £3,000 in savings. They're not for the nurse in Birmingham who can't afford a one-bed flat within an hour's commute of her hospital. They're not for the young couple in Bristol who've been told their only option is a 35-year mortgage on a house smaller than their parents' garage.

Here's how the scam works.

The government announces a big number. 1.5 million! The media reports it as good news. Developers get planning permission on green belt land they've been sitting on for years. They build the smallest, cheapest houses the regulations allow. They sell them at maximum price. They make billions.

The green belt disappears. The countryside gets concreted. Local infrastructure — schools, roads, GP surgeries — is overwhelmed. And house prices don't come down because the new supply is priced at market rate, not affordable rate.

"Affordable housing" in London means a home priced at 80% of market rate. Eighty percent of insane is still insane.

Meanwhile, there are 250,000 homes sitting empty across England. Not derelict. Not condemned. Just empty. Investment properties. Second homes. Assets on a spreadsheet.

Fix that first. Then talk to me about building on the green belt.

Labour's housing plan isn't about helping you buy a home. It's about helping developers build them. The difference matters. Follow the money and you'll find it leads straight from the planning department to the party fundraising dinner.

1.5 million homes. Not one of them for you.