By Jessica Frank-Keyes
Labour’s plans to solve the housing crisis are promising, but it needs to be tactical about how it pitches them in order to win over as many voters as possible, Jessica Frank-Keyes writes
Pick up any newspaper or flick through a news app, and housing in this country – or the lack of it – is rarely out of the headlines.
Earlier this week, a survey found the so-called ‘biggest Nimby’ (‘not in my backyard’ for the uninitiated) areas of London are predominantly in the leafier, outer boroughs, while more densely packed inner city areas had some of the most pro-development views in the country.
Similarly, recent news that housing secretary Michael Gove’s leasehold and rental reforms have been watered down sparked a fierce backlash from housing campaigners.
Some are now even pledging their vote to “the party that will deliver freedom” to the millions of Brits trapped in homes with spiralling service charges and ground rents.
And that’s without getting into the often horrific conditions of mould, disrepair, sewage, pest infestations, leaks and flooding residents have been left living in by some councils or rogue housing associations – documented by tireless advocate Kwajo Tweneboa.
What’s more, aside from the practical desire of so many of us to have four walls to call our own, to get the Dulux out and even consider getting a pet, the absence of secure, affordable homes is already driving so many families out of London that even primary schools are closing.
Some have even suggested the housing crisis is putting people off from having children altogether.
Discussing this on the News Agents podcast last week, Centre for Policy Studies (CPS) director Robert Colville said: “It’s really, really, really hard to get onto the property ladder, certainly in London and the southeast if you’re a single parent.
“We’ve created a system which is almost uniquely disadvantageous to having kids.”
It’s clear that the ongoing failure to simply build enough homes for people to live in more than merits the term crisis.
Polling shows that housing is one of the top areas of concern among voters. But the strength of feeling about the issue varies depending on age.
YouGov polling on what people think the top issues in the UK are shows among younger voters (18-24) housing is joint second with health, after the economy or cost of living.
But for over 65s housing is only the fifth most important issue, below health, immigration, crime, the economy, and defence and security.
Broadly speaking, the Tories seem less united in their efforts to campaign on this issue, and it’s hard to overlook Rishi Sunak’s decision to scrap mandatory, top-down house building targets last year.
Labour, however, appears dead set on solving the housing crisis, pledging to build “the next generation” of new towns, along with 1.5m homes.
Earlier this year, more than twice as many voters said a Labour government would be better for housing than the Tories, according to an Opinium poll for the Observer.
This goes some way to explaining why Keir Starmer has made it a key – if not ‘the’ key – pledge as to how he’ll get the economy growing.
He even claimed to Sky News’ Sophy Ridge both that “planning can be changed very, very quickly” and that the alterations “will have a massive impact on growth”. (As a former local government reporter, sitting in many endless planning meetings on wildlife impact surveys, I know how drawn out these planning processes can be.)
Rightly, however, Labour draws a direct link between our lack of “economic stability, industrial strategy, and public and private investment” and the failure to “reform outdated planning laws”.
But for ‘getting Britain building’ and Labour’s ‘decade of national renewal’ to become more than snappy(ish) slogans, tough choices must be made. Where will the new towns actually go?
Starmer has said he’ll “bulldoze through” the oft-obstructive planning system. But how does this square with Labour’s other aims, namely to push forward devolution and localisation?
Ben Cooper, research manager at the Fabian Society, said that in order to get broad support for its housing ambitions, Labour will need to sell them in the right way.
Polling of some 3,000 people on public attitudes towards greenbelt building revealed a more “nuanced” approach may be required when campaigning on the issue.
Half were asked if they thought it should be easy or difficult to “obtain planning permission to build affordable housing” on green belt land; and the other half were asked the same question in reference to land where “building new homes is currently prohibited or restricted”.
In the absence of the somewhat loaded term, people were 59 per cent in favour, versus just 43 per cent when the greenbelt was mentioned.
“Depending on how you present it, either the policy can be fairly unifying, or if you present it badly, it can become very divisive,” Cooper noted. “If the public are not Nimbys, they’re not Yimbys either.”
Policies, he stressed, also need to be seen through the lenses the public currently view their situations through.
“When [Labour] are talking about housing, it has to touch on either the cost of living crisis, or the sense of insecurity,” he added. “It’s about communicating what policies you have through those two lenses.”
Local government researcher Jack Shaw agreed.
“I think they’ll focus on the intergenerational benefit of housing, and really those fundamental wishes and desires that ordinary people have,” he said. “Keir’s spoken about words like belonging, and phrases like politics treading more lightly on people’s lives.
“There’s this idea that even if you’re not going to benefit from one of these homes, it’s about the unfairness of the system.”
Ultimately, however the parties opt to present the issue, addressing a problem this profound should go beyond our divisions.
Housing presents a serious challenge for us as a country – what do we want the UK to be? How do we want people to live in the years and decades to come?
No matter your age, location or current housing status as a renter, homeowner or landlord, we all have a stake in these questions.
