The acute housing crisis resulting from the disastrous Right to Buy policy and the domination of house building by commodity production, will not be resolved by changing planning law. The big builders/developers build at a pace and a scale which serves one purpose, maximising their profits. There is a widespread recognition that a change of government opens the possibility of beginning to resolve this crisis, but only if the new government focuses on building social rent homes. As Polly Neate of Shelter said in relation to the “Freedom to Buy”, another home ownership scheme “that helps only a small minority and ignores the core of the problem isn’t going to cut it”.
Shelter and other housing campaigns are calling for the next government to fund 90,000 social rent homes a year, the Local Government Association (including Labour’s own councillors) 100,000. With more than 112,000 households in temporary accommodation, including 145,000 children, and nearly 1.3 million households on waiting lists, there is an urgent need for social rent homes for them. Moreover, the cost of temporary accommodation, as a result of the absence or shortage of council housing, is pushing more and more councils down the road to issuing section114 notices (an indication that they cannot balance their budgets). Labour should fully fund councils for the cost of temporary accommodation.
At the 2022 Labour conference Lisa Nandy said that “Labour’s mantra is ‘council housing, council housing, council housing’.” Yet the General Election Manifesto does not even mention council housing. Shadow Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook has said that Labour in government will not increase the parsimonious funding currently available in the Tories Affordable Homes Programme. The Manifesto talks of “delivering more homes from existing (Tory) funding”. How can this happen without reducing the grant per unit, which is in any case insufficient? The LGA is rightly calling for more grant.
Right to Buy has been been ended in Scotland and Wales, yet Labour is proposing to keep it and only review discounts. As Andy Burnham said, increasing stock with RTB in place is “like trying to fill a bath with the plug out.” Ending RTB will guarantte that evey new home built or acquired wil increase the available stock.
The downgrading of the Green Prosperity Plan has meant that the Manifesto commits only £1.1 billion a year to Labour’s Warm Homes Plan. Tackling global warming requires emergency action to decarbonise housing. It is also the best means of resolving problems of damp and mould. But we can’t decarbonise existing council housing without significant funding.
Tory austerity impacted on council housing. “Affordable rent” (up to 80% of private rents”) was introduced by the Tories in order to cut funding for council and housing association homes. Not only is it much less affordable for the tenant than social rent, it drives up the national housing benefit bill. Yet there is no commitment in Labour’s Manifesto to end unaffordable “affordable rent”. It should be abolished and all grant should be for social rent only.
The idea that “there is no more money” is only true if Labour leaves in place the regressive taxation system. It is a question of priorities. The Atlee government launched the NHS and built a million council homes despite a far worse economic situation than the one we face today. The debt to GDP ratio was 250% then as compared to near 100% today.
There are plenty of means of finding the necessary funds. Even Rachel Reeves herself, as recently as 2022, recognised that Capital Gains Tax should be equalised with income tax. But her economic straitjacket must be abandoned.
Whilst talking of devolving power from Westminster the Manifesto proposes to impose compulsory tenure blind house building targets on local authorities. This is a recipe for profiteering by the big builders and developers. We know from experience that when councils have not reached their targets the developers are able to force through their plans regardless of social needs. Without a significant increase in grant then homes for sale are bound to predominate.
Labour’s Manifesto policies will not resolve the housing crisis. They do not reflect the views of the members and affiliates. In 2019 and 2021 Labour conferences overwhelmingly called for 100,000 council homes a year and an end to the disastrous Right to Buy scheme. So, with Labour in government we will need to step up the campaign for council housing, which is the best and most economic means of rescuing the younger generation from the expensive and often poor quality private rented sector. There is a broad based movement which recognises this, from Shelter and other housing campaigns, to tenant organisations, and the trades unions. These organisations need to come together to pressure the Labour government to provide the funding for 100,000 social rent homes a year.
Martin Wicks
Labour Campaign for Council Housing 