Today's housing announcement will make one of Britain's biggest problems even worse
The Conservatives just haven’t got over Thatcher have they? If they had, they probably wouldn’t be so fixated on re-heating her old policies. As someone remarked to me this morning, “David Cameron’s Tories are like a Thatcher tribute band – they play the old favourites even more badly than the original”.
The latest announcement, to coincide with today’s manifesto launch, is a pledge to extend the right-to-buy scheme so that up to 1.3 million housing association tenants in England will be able to buy their homes at a discount.
As I said, re-heated Thatcherism. While there are sometimes those on the left who want to recapture the so-called ‘spirit of ’45’, the Tories are still trying to repackage what they think got Margaret Thatcher repeatedly elected in the 1980s.
But just as it isn’t 1945, it isn’t 1979, either.
So what about the substance of this policy? Well most people are agreed that there is currently a housing crisis in Britain. The country requires around 240,000 new homes each year yet in 2014 fewer than 120,000 were built.
This is having an obvious effect on house prices, which are going only in one direction – and fast. According to the House Builders Federation, in the last 40 years the average house price to salary ratio has almost doubled.
Successive governments have also failed to replenish the social housing stock, and under the coalition the sell-off has hastened. Since 2012, 22,900 council homes have been sold with just 4,800 replacements started and 10,000 planned.
So what the the effect of the latest announcement be?. Well as our housing writer Kevin Gulliver put it last month when the policy was first being touted:
Privatising precious public housing assets would further deplete the social housing stock: there are 1.5m fewer social homes today than in 1979 against a population one fifth larger than back then…
The proposed extension of the Right to Buy, clearly aimed at attracting blue collar workers in key marginals to the Tory banner, will do nothing to tackle a growing backlog of housing demand and will not enable the country to cope with future housing need.
Electioneering is one thing; but today’s housing announcement would likely make one of Britain’s biggest problems significantly worse.
James Bloodworth is the editor of Left Foot Forward. Follow him on Twitter
41 Responses to “The Tory proposal that would deepen the housing crisis”
GTE
You don’t get it do you.
You rail about inequality, and along comes a proposal that would allow more people to acquire capital, and reduce inequality.
But no, you’re going to stop the poor from doing that. You’ve got to keep the poor. Keep your boot on their necks.
GTE
Second observation.
The housing shortage is caused my migration. If you’re in favour at least own up to the bad effects of your policy.
damon
I actually agree with the main article. Because OVERALL it will have a negative affect on the housing situation generally. Of course it will be good for individuals who get given a big discount to purchase a house where they have had a privilliged tenancy for years beforehand.
TN
I knew LFF would be all over this when the announcement was made. Middle class left of centre politics doesn’t appeal to the people this policy clearly does. Which is why Labour’s sanctimonious, aspiration/wealth killing policies (non-dom status, raising the top rate of tax, mansion tax and so forth) isn’t pushing them ahead in the polls. C1/C2 voters don’t share the same fuzzy centre left world view of LFF, let alone harder left wing views.
Don’t slate people who want to own their own homes. Hard working people don’t care nor want ramped up spending for leftie interests such as benefit scroungers.
TN
It’s socialist/social democratic hypocrisy from Bloodworth among others. In their eyes, inequality can only be reversed by the overbearing breastfeeding nanny state. But give ordinary people true autonomy and empowerment, it’s dangerous and causes social cleansing.