Labour has called time on “short-termism” in UK housing policy as its shadow housing minister said the country needed a 20-year “all-party” strategy.
Last night, shadow housing minister Tony Lloyd said: “One of the things that is bedevilling this government is short-termism. We have got to move away from that and to begin to have something like a 20-year housing strategy if we are going to make a real difference. And yes, better if we can make that an all-party national [strategy].”
Public frustration about housing has been described as a “huge opportunity” for the party, with the issue featuring prominently at fringe debates on the first day of the Labour Party Conference in Brighton.
Lloyd said: “Huge challenge; huge opportunity. Politically, I really believe this is Labour’s time on this.
“We have got to make the running because out in this country there are many, many people who are worried; possibly about themselves; possibly about the future for their own family members.”
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn told the BBC: “We need at least two terms of a Labour government to start to address issues of poverty, inequality and justice in Britain and to build the houses that we need in this country.”
Key Labour housing policies include:
- Remove government restrictions that stop councils building homes and begin “the biggest council building programme for at least 30 years”
- Allow greater powers to access land for development
- Prioritise brownfield sites and protect the green belt. Build a new generation of new towns to avoid urban sprawl
- Build 250,000 homes a year, of which 100,000 are affordable and social
A longer-term view of housing policy is welcomed by housebuilders, which have been hampered by regular policy changes and a high turnover of housing ministers.
Chris Tinker, board director and regeneration chairman at Crest Nicholson, said: “I would love nothing more than for housing to be put centre stage and for politicians to try to create consensus as to how to address it.”
He added: “Actually, probably in the housing debate at the moment, the right and the left are probably the furthest apart they have ever been, and this is really interesting territory.”
The Grenfell Tower tragedy has charged the debate around the delivery of more social housing, with two fringe events last night dedicated to how to address the subject. Labour has also launched a new homelessness network to tackle the growing numbers of people sleeping on the streets. (Homelessness rose by 54% between 2010-16, according to government figures).
“We need to come up with radical changes and we actually need to frighten a few people,” said Cambridge City Council leader Lewis Herbert.
Within a two-mile radius of the conference centre in Brighton there are 150 men and women sleeping rough – a number that would be closer to 500 without the work of local charities, according to Andy Winter, chief executive of Brighton Housing Trust.
The Conservative Party will need to show its commitment to solving the country’s housing challenges at its own conference, which starts in Manchester on Sunday.
Winter said: “Mr [Sajid] Javid is secretary of state with responsibility for housing. His government has been in power since 2010. Surely he must have been thinking about these issues? Surely he must have some idea what the current situation is? And surely he must have some idea what needs to be done. We need more than platitudes.”
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