Since losing the last election, Labour has apologised for all sorts of things - Iraq, the economy and immigration. But not for its housing policy.

While in power, the party made a pact with neoliberalism that led to economic catastrophe and the worst housing crisis since the war.

Now, as it attempts to rebuild its credibility, there's an opportunity to reconnect with a disillusioned electorate on an issue that affects every aspect of our lives, while cutting across the divisive and reactionary politics of the Con-Dems and Ukip.

A housing strategy for the future based on public investment, jobs, environmentalism and improving the quality of people's lives should be at the heart of the Labour manifesto, but to do this will require recognition that what happened between 1997 and 2010 failed.

Housing policy under new Labour was a continuation of what had gone before.

Eulogisation of home ownership, attacks on council housing, erosion of housing rights, promotion of housing associations and indulgence of private property developers were all features of Thatcherism.

The sham ideology of the "third way" required a degree of window-dressing to soften the edges, but beneath the blandishments of "regeneration" and "urban renaissance" was a policy straight from the neoliberal playbook.

In thrall to the electoral popularity of right to buy, Labour sought new methods to expand the property market.

Private housing was cultivated by a planning system that increasingly favoured developers and diluted the concept of social housing by allowing nebulous definitions of "affordability" and using the spurious justification of "mixed communities."

Some 200,000 council homes a year were targeted for transfer to housing associations - private businesses endowed with public land upon which to build more private housing - and the disastrous Housing Market Renewal programme blighted entire neighbourhoods at a cost of £2.2 billion.

Fuelled by images of a cool urban vibe, cities around Britain saw explosions of luxury apartment blocks, heavily financed by the buy-to-let market, but very few family homes were built.

Even rhetorically progressive Labour politicians were mesmerised by the apparent economic alchemy of the property market.

Despite an oft-repeated intention to provide between 35 per cent and 50 per cent affordable housing on new developments, during Ken Livingstone's tenure as London mayor fewer than 20 per cent of homes were built at prices that most Londoners could afford, as the market spiralled out of control.

We all know what happened next. Around the world governments which, like new Labour, had placed their economic eggs in the property basket found they were sponsoring a pyramid scheme.

But as we pick through the wreckage of "sub-prime," it's important to note that warnings of the current housing crisis were there before 2008.

The government's Barker review of 2004 predicted the need for 240,000 new homes a year, but even during the boom this target was never reached by an industry that profits from scarcity and, despite their favoured status, housing associations never got near to building the number of homes that councils used to.

As a result, homelessness, families living in temporary accommodation and waiting lists soared under new Labour.

The Labour Party has acknowledged the scale of the housing problem by commissioning the Lyons review and despite the "great and good" membership, the terms of reference offer some hope.

Ed Miliband's "use it or lose it" message to developers sitting on "land banks" is welcome and must lead to decisive action if Labour wins the next election.

Relaxing public finance rules so councils can start building the thousands of homes we need is essential.

The construction industry is not fit for purpose and needs significant reform. But anyone who has worked in or campaigned on housing for any length of time - 24 years in my case - has heard it all before and there is reason to doubt that Labour has really learned the error of its ways.

While the more rank-and-file Labour Housing Group has produced a robust, 50-point strategy that would certainly make a difference, the leadership continues to use lazy soundbites about supporting first-time buyers and appears embarrassed to talk about council housing.

But none of these approaches will work. We don't need another committee to tell us there's a shortage of affordable homes.

Not many people will read a 50-point plan and the home ownership fixation is how we got into this mess.

Labour must unashamedly and aggressively campaign for an emergency programme of council house-building, just as its post-war predecessor did.

To do this not only requires enabling financial and planning measures but rejecting the stigmatisation of council housing that has become a reflex of Establishment politics and the media.

Labour should be as proud of council housing as it is of the NHS. Having a secure, decent, affordable home transformed the lives of millions - and can do again.

A new generation of publicly owned housing would generate jobs and make a genuine, gimmick-free contribution to domestic energy efficiency, something that can't be done through the model of individual home ownership.

Every aspect of public policy - education, crime, health, transport, the environment - all relate to housing but also depend upon a sense of collective social responsibility that is anathema to the private housing market.

A serious commitment to build council homes would also dispel the myths and despair that the far-right feeds on.

A Labour MP who understands this dynamic, Jon Cruddas, once said: "All roads lead to housing" - and he's right.

The next column in the series will look at one of the solutions to the housing crisis currently being touted - garden cities.