The future of housing

A month ago, I wrote a post detailing how the conservatives have been destroying social housing.

As a follow up, I thought I would look at the housing policies contained in the manifestos of the two main parties and give my thoughts on them.

For a handy summary, see page 8 of my friend's manifesto summary.

Let's start with the Conservative's manifesto.

Aim to eliminate rough sleeping by 2027

"To achieve this we will set up a new homelessness reduction taskforce that will focus on prevention and affordable housing, and we will pilot a Housing First approach to tackle rough sleeping."

I have no idea what this means other than that they're going to employ some people to try to stop people living on the streets. I'm not sure how useful this will be. When people end up on the streets, they may have been failed by the support systems. Another support system would be good, but we could just invest more in the current systems. Affordable housing is malleable term, as I discussed in my last post on housing. This is largely just a sticking plaster, trying to eliminate the symptoms of the problem rather than the causes (e.g. unaffordable housing, low paid work, income inequality etc).

Ban letting agent fees

This - or a form of it - appears in the Tory, Labour and LibDem manifestos, so I think it's safe to say it's getting done. It's a good idea in principle. Letting agents charge through the roof for upfront fees and checks which can be a barrier to some people acquiring suitable accommodation. My worry with this is whether the agents will not want to lose out and so will load fees onto monthly rent which might cause landlords to increase the rent they are asking for, which may have a knock on effect on average rental prices.

Modernise home buying process so it is less costly

There is little detail on this, so I'm not sure what they plan to do. The fees when you buy a house are valuation fees, surveyors fees, estate agent fees and solicitors fees. I'm not sure which off these the government really feels they have control over. The only thing they could really do to help purchasers would be to remove the VAT on these fees.

Improve protection for renters

They will encourage landlords to offer longer tenancies. There is absolutely no detail on how they will do this. Some landlords are restricted on the length of tenancy they can offer by their mortgage lender, so it might be that the government would need to start there. However, 93% of landlords (who own 81% of UK rental properties) only own one property. This is the situation I am in because I have moved in with my partner and rented out my property. Landlords in this situation may not want to be locked into a long term tenancy as they may need to sell their property when their family needs to move to a larger home.

Deliver 2015 commitment to deliver one million homes by 2020 and another half million by 2022

Whilst there is some contention about the current rate of housebuilding (partly due to measuring it on starts and completions), the figure for 2015/16 is somewhere between 140,000 and 164,000. We would need to be producing homes at a rate of 200,000 a year for the first five years and then 250,000 a year for the next two in order to hit this commitment. We are currently significantly short of this number.

The issues with increasing this number are multiple. Firstly, there needs to be the funding available. Many housing associations are struggling due to rental cuts as I mentioned before.

There needs to be the land available. Unquestionably, there is enough land in the UK to build this number of houses, however getting started on it is tricker. Some companies have been land banking (holding onto land until the value rises), and some land is designated green land which is always contentious when you attempt to build there. Living near a proposed garden town, I have seen a lot of local resistance to building.

There needs to be adequate infrastructure - roads, rail links, doctors, schools etc. If you attempt to build in an area without the infrastructure in place or at least planned, then you will create more problems than you solve.

Finally, and most importantly, we do not have enough labour to increase the number as significantly as promised. The construction industry would need to recruit significantly more workers in order to keep up with demand. Previously, it has also relied on workers from inside the EU, and when we leave in a couple of years time, this might put further demands on the workforce.

Give councils power to intervene where developers don't act on planning permission

This is a good idea. I don't know why they've not done it before. It seems like a quick win.

Build new fixed-term social housing which will be sold privately after 10-15

Yes to more social housing but no to making it be sold! Seriously, the government hasn't learnt that they have not been replacing social housing at the rate it is being sold off under the right to buy. This is a stop gap solution which will exacerbate the problem for the next generation. Keep social housing as social housing. The Conservatives talk about not wanting to burden the future generations with debt, but they are happy to burden them with other problems.

Let's move on to the Labour manifesto.

Build 100,000 more council and housing association homes for genuinely affordable rent or sale

What I like best about this is that it suggests they are going to redefine the term affordable that the government keeps redefining in order to make it actually means what it says again.

They have pledged to create a new Department for Housing which will aim to tackle the crisis by improving the number, standards and affordability of homes, prioritising brownfield sites. A department for housing is a great idea and is long overdue.

Powers for councils to build the homes the communities need

This is a good idea in principle, as councils will be able to more easily understand local demands. I'm worried that if it turns into a situation with councils forcing home building on local communities that this will cause conflict. Our local council have been pushing ahead with house building plans despite lots of local opposition who claim council abuse of their powers, and I can only see it getting worse if these powers increase.

Suspend right to buy until councils prove they can replace them like for like

This is great. This would mean that the number of social homes is maintained whilst allowing people to get a foot on the housing ladder. This was a conservative promise which has been broken.

One main problem with selling off social housing without replacing it in the local area is social cleansing, which has been most pronounced in London as councils have been trying to move residents to Birmingham.

Labour's policy would ensure that people can stay in the community where they live, where they children go to school, where their friends and families and support networks are.

I think the only downside might be residents who want to buy but where the council isn't able to build, but I'm sure there are solutions to that.

Inflation cap on rent rises and three year tenancies as the norm

I am in favour of an inflation cap. This will help people retain their tenancies rather than having landlords impose high rent inflation on them and force them out of their home. Three year tenancies I am a little more torn on. There are instances when this is not right for either the landlord or the tenant. Some people will only want to be in a certain place for a short length of time. As long as there are adequate ways to terminate the tenancy earlier, this should be a good policy.

Ban letting agents fees for tenants

This was discussed earlier as the Conservatives have also promised this.

Plan to end rough sleeping within the parliament 

There seems to be a good plan behind this. They will make available 4,000 additional homes reserved for people with a history of rough sleeping. They have pledged to reverse the Tory cuts to welfare which have forced some people into homelessness. They will be safe guarding homeless hostels and supported housing which has suffered under this government.

They also pledge to deal with the causes rather than just the effect which was discussed in the Conservative manifesto, which means they are offering a more long-term solution to the problem.