On Tuesday I will have the privilege of setting the scene before four of London’s prospective mayoral candidates put forward their visions for housing as part of the 2016 LandAid Debate at Central Hall in Westminster, SW1.
It promises to be a lively discussion, given the speed at which housing has risen up the political agenda – especially as all the housing issues faced in the UK are magnified in the capital.
Those issues centre around two key themes: the affordability of housing and the ability to increase the delivery of new homes. Both feed into underlying concerns about accessibility to housing across all three main tenures: social housing, private renting and home ownership.
Though approaches differ, a quick review of the policy statements of each of the candidates bears witness to this.
No easy solution
The problem facing each is that there is no easy solution to the capital’s housing crisis, no silver bullet.
When it comes to London’s housing crisis, we are constantly looking for someone to pin the blame on. There is a huge temptation to single out overseas buyers, private landlords, banks, planners or private housebuilders as the root cause for the ills in the market.
Yet policies that simply deal with the individual symptoms of an historic collective failure to address London’s issues run the risk of being counterproductive.
Instead we require a careful balance between policy carrots and sticks that aim to deliver a range of housing in volume across a range of tenures and price points.
The capital would benefit from greater access to home ownership and improved delivery of social housing. It certainly also needs a bigger, better and more professional private rented sector.
Improving the track record
I hope the LandAid Debate looks at how to improve the track record on all three. Much like a three-legged stool, if policies are longer on one issue and proportionately shorter on the others, they just won’t do the job. Let’s therefore hope we hear how planning, the use of public sector land, tax and regulation can facilitate rather than inhibit this.
What is clear is that a failure to grapple with the capital’s housing problems presents real risks to London’s economic competitiveness and social cohesion. Housing is rightly front and centre in the mayoral election.
Join me on 23 February to hear the candidates’ plans for addressing these issues.
Final tickets for the LandAid Debate sponsored by Savills are available at www.landaid.org/debate2016
Lucian Cook is head of residential research at Savills
