Tag: Labour

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The Autumn Budget: What is in it for housing?

The Chancellor visits Liverpool by HM Treasury is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Today was a first in a number of ways. It marked the first Labour budget in fourteen years, and the first budget ever delivered by a female Chancellor.

But it is also the most ambitious set of measures for the housing sector in quite some time, with a number of policies contained designed to get Britain building, deliver the next generation of social housing, and address some of the stark inequalities in the housing system as a whole.

Investing in delivery

The past few years have seen a slump in affordable housebuilding, particularly in the areas of highest need, with the number of homes started by London-based housing associations down by 92% this year. This is due to a number of reasons, including the increased cost of building, and also a focus on the sector’s existing stock after the passage of much-needed regulation including Awaab’s Law and the Building Safety Act.

It was therefore pleasing to see that one of the headline announcements from the Budget was a £500m top-up to the Affordable Homes Programme (AHP). This was a programme started under the last Government to deliver £11.5bn of funding to the affordable housing sector from 2021 – 26.

The additional £500m represents a 10% per annum increase in the value of the fund from 2025-6, which will be particularly useful given the aforementioned pressures on registered providers, and should hopefully allow them to top-up existing project funding as well as starting new ventures.  This funding is also boosted by the confirmation of a five-year rent settlement for social housing providers, under which their rents will be able to increase by CPI +1%. This will provide much needed certainty to the sector after years of more haphazard policymaking.

What’s more, this budget saw additional funding dedicated towards more general housing delivery, including:

  • £3bn in support and guarantees to increase the supply of homes and support small housebuilders.
  • £128m to new housing projects to support the deliver of 33,000 homes
  • A £36m investment in the planning system to boost local authority skills provision, including recruiting the 300 new planners promised in Labour’s manifesto.
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Bringing existing homes up to date

The UK famously has among the oldest and leakiest housing stock in Europe. This is consequential for a number of reasons: consumers’ bills are higher, buildings emit more carbon, and homes are worse for residents’ health.

This budget saw a clear effort to address that, with a £3.4 billion investment into the government’s new Warm Homes Programme as part of the Government’s mission to bring all homes up to EPC C by 2030.

This programme will be transformational for consumers. It will significantly reduce bills and with it emissions from the built environment, and much of the retrofitting work entailed will have knock-on benefits for resident’s health.  

Particularly welcoming was the £1bn dedicated to cladding remediation – this has been called for by those trapped in unsafe blocks and will meaningfully accelerate the removal of dangerous cladding.

Severely restricting the Right to Buy

The Right to Buy, the policy which enables council tenants to buy their homes at a discounted rate, has often been criticised as an unhelpful drain on social housing at the time when lists of people applying for social housing are at their highest. Since discounts were increased by the coalition in 2012, this scheme has accelerated to seeing 10,000 – 12,000 homes lost per year, which are often difficult to replace.

After a review over the summer, this budget saw the government confirm their intention to heavily reduce discounts for the Right to Buy scheme, alongside increasing the time period for a which a tenant has had to live in, and providing additional exemptions for newly built council homes.

This not only undoes some of the worst reforms made under the Coalition Government but places brand new restrictions on the Right to Buy, and so there is hope that sales may dip even below the rates of 4,000 – 5,000 seen in the latter years of the Blair-Brown Governments.

It has also been confirmed that councils will keep 100% of the receipts from sales, making it easier for them to build new homes to supplement those lost from the scheme.

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Taxing housing more fairly

Finally, the budget sought to change the perverse incentives which help to drive inequality in the housing market. At present, many landlords buy up property in the private rental sector as an investment, and happily admit to seeing themselves more as investors than as professional landlords. Similarly, those who are at the lucky enough to own their own homes are able to pass a substantial amount of the value of that home to their children upon death, dividing Britain starkly between those with family property and those without.

This budget saw moves to amend this inequality, with stamp duty rates for second home and capital gains tax increased, while income tax thresholds will be unfrozen from 2028. This marks a substantial change in the tax system to prioritise those seeking to get onto the housing ladder at the expense of those who earn more than property, either as a property owner or as a landlord, while supporting those who derive income from work.

Welcome progress, but more funding will be needed

All of the money delivered in this budget is welcome, and sorely needed. But more will still be needed to achieve the government’s housing goals.

The National Housing Federation has estimated that £4.6bn per year will be needed to deliver the step change in affordable housing needed to meet Labour’s manifesto goals, nearly double of the programme inherited from the Tories.

More investment is also always welcome in directly preventing and tackling homelessness, and in reviving the Supporting People Programme ended by the Tories, but which was estimated to generate £2 for every £1 spent in supporting social housing residents.

Ministers have indicated that this is only the start of Labour’s plans to drive investment in the economy, and we will have to look to the Spending Review taking place over the winter for signals of what departmental budgets will look like in the coming years. Key priorities will be ensuring that the Local Housing Allowance and housing benefit continue to be uprated so that those at the sharpest end of the housing crisis have the support they need.

But the sector must continue to call for these changes and the spending needed to support the government’s aim of ending the housing crisis.

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Labour Conference 2024: What’s going on for housing?

ACC Liverpool by John Lord is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Labour Conference is back! The first conference with a Labour Government in 15 years will see Liverpool teeming with Labour Party activists, VIPs and the broader political world.

Hundreds of events look to be forming out a packed-out calendar, so this editor thought it would be useful for Red Brick readers attending conference to have a quick guide of what’s going on for housing.

This will be split into events, exhibition, and conference floor, with notes for when and where events are happening.

Only confirmed speakers will be registered here, given the number of organisations who include over-ambitious invitations.

Please note that some events may require booking to enter, we recommend that you also check with the event organiser in advance.

If you would like your event included in this list or would like to make an amendment please get in touch with us at [email protected]

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Hall speeches and debates:

Sunday 22nd September:

11:25am – 11:35am | Deputy Leader of the Labour Party’s Speech

Tuesday 24th September:

2:00pm – 4:00pm | Leader of the Labour Party’s Speech

Fringes:

Sunday 22nd September

11:30am – 12:30pm | Meeting Room 12, ACC | Finding Local Solutions to the Housing Crisis (The Labour Party) Join a panel of local government leaders to discuss how Labour Councils can support the Government’s target to build 1.5 million homes.

3:00pm – 4:00pm | Progressive Britain Hub, ACC | “Getting Planning Right: How can we get Britain building and promote nature’s recovery?” (Progressive Britain, CPRE, National Trust, RSPB and the Woodland Trust) Is it possible to deliver growth through the planning system and tackle the nature crisis? Or are the two mutually exclusive?

Speakers:

  • Baroness Sharon Taylor
  • Mary-Ann Ochota (Broadcaster, author and anthropologist)
  • Abi Bunker (Woodland Trust)
  • Craig Bennett (The Wildlife Trusts)
  • Rob Boughton (Thakeham)
  • Marc Harris (Labour YIMBY)

3:15pm – 4:30pm | Meeting Room 4B, ACC | Delivering the homes the country needs (NHBC) A housing event with industry CEOs, senior stakeholders and Party members.

3:30pm – 4:30pm | Arena Room 8, ACC | How can Labour fix the renting crisis? (Renters’ Reform Coalition).

Speakers:

  • Tom Darling, Renters’ Reform Coalition (Chair)
  • Vicky Spratt (The i paper)
  • Anny Cullum (ACORN)
  • Tom McInnes (Citizens Advice)

3:30pm – 4:30pm | Arena Room 10, ACC | How can Labour work with communities to end rough sleeping? (Christians on the left).

Speakers:

  • Bonnie Williams (Housing Justice)
  • Cllr George Dunstall (Haringey Council)

4:00pm – 5:00pm | Premier Inn Liverpool Albert Dock | Warming up? Electrifying home heating (Bright Blue and Thermal Storage UK). Join Bright Blue and Thermal Storage UK as we discuss the technologies for and challenge to the electrification of home heating. Speakers:

  • Ryan Shorthouse (Bright Blue) (Chair)
  • Fiona Harvey (The Guardian)
  • Guy Newey (Energy Systems Catapult)
  • Dr Robert Barthope (University of Sheffield).

4:15pm – 5:30pm | Mersey Suite, Pullman Hotel | Brick by brick: a plan to deliver the social homes we need (Shelter).

4:30pm – 5:30pm | Startup Coalition Tech Hub | Built different: accelerating the decarbonisation of the built environment through tech and innovation (Startup Coalition and Checkatrade). A panel discussion on how the Labour Government can deploy technology to accelerate its Warm Homes Plan, decarbonise the housing stock and empower consumers to lower their energy bills.

4:30pm – 6:00pm | Albert Johnston suite, Novotel Liverpool Centre | Rally for Social Housing (Labour Housing Group)

Speakers:

  • Paula Barker MP
  • Rachel Blake MP
  • David Smith MP
  • Peter Swallow MP
  • Andrew Lewin MP
  • Jenny Riddell- Carpenter MP
  • Luke Murphy MP
  • Ike Mbamali (Prowgress)
  • Mairi MacRae (Shelter)
  • Martin Hilditch (Inside Housing Build Social)
  • Cllr Julie Fadden (Liverpool City Council)
  • Cllr Peray Ahmet (Haringey Council)
  • Mark Slater (Greater Manchester Tenants’ Union)
  • Gordon Johnstone (House Everyone in Liverpool Properly)
  • Jasmine Basran (Crisis)

6:00pm – 7:00pm | Meeting Room 9, Leonardo’s Hotel | Health Inequality and Cold Homes: An evening with Professor Sir Michael Marmot (Friends of the Earth and Institute of Health Equity).

Speakers:

  • Mike Childs (Friends of the Earth) (Chair)
  • Professor Sir Michael Marmot (Institute of Health Equity)

6:00pm – 6:30pm | Arena Room 7, ACC | More than a landlord: How can housing associations help tackle the housing crisis? (SME4Labour and Clarion Housing Association).

Speakers:

  • Clare Miller (Clarion Housing Group)

6:30pm – 8:00pm | Arena Room 9, ACC | Social housing into the next century (West Midlands Housing Association Partnership)

7:00pm – 9:00pm | Imagine, Hilton Hotel | Labour YIMBY: Rally for the Builders (Labour YIMBY and Homes for Britain supported by Britain Remade and LPDF).

Speakers:

  • Cllr Shama Tatler (London Borough of Brent) (Chair)
  • Shreya Nandy (Labour YIMBY)
  • Marc Harris (Labour YIMBY)
  • Chris Curtis MP
  • Dan Tomlinson MP
  • Yuan Yang MP
  • Eve McQuillan (LPDF)
  • Issy Waite (Labour Students)
  • Abdi Duale (Labour NEC)

7:30pm – 9:00pm | The Purpose Coalition Tent, ACC | The Warmer Homes Reception (The Purpose Coalition and E.ON). The Warmer Homes Reception will explore how the new Labour government and business can work in partnership to ensure everyone has the energy security they need.

Monday 23rd September

9:00am – 10:00am | Meeting Room 9, Leonardo Hotel | Where does the Private Rented Sector fit into Labour’s plans for Housing? (Social Market Foundation and Paragon). Labour have made commitments to help tenants in the private rented sector by banning no fault evictions, but what more can be done to raise standards and deliver more homes to address the supply-demand imbalance?

Speakers:

  • Jamie Gollings (Social Market Foundation) (Chair)
  • Nigel Terrington (Paragon Banking Group)
  • Vicky Spratt (The i paper)
  • Gráinne Gilmore (Cluttons)

9:30am – 10:30am | Gallery 2, RIBA North, 21 Mann Island | Delivering high-quality affordable homes? (Royal Institute of British Architects and Peabody). Join RIBA and Peabody alongside an expert panel to discuss how the new Labour government can both build new affordable homes at scale and also deliver good quality homes and sustainable places.

10:00am – 11:00am | Arena Room 7, ACC | Boosting the UK’s Small House Builders (SME4Labour and Federation of Master Builders).

Speakers:

  • Brian Perry (Federation of Master Builders)
  • Sonia Khan MP

11:00am – 11:45am | Meeting Room 11B, ACC | Homes for All: How could Labour support a broad and balanced curriculum? (New Statesman and Nationwide Foundation)

Speakers:

  • Richard Parker (Mayor for the West Midlands)
  • David Orr (Homes for All)
  • Kate Markey (Nationwide Foundation)

12:00pm – 12:50pm | Meeting Room 11B, ACC | How can Labour shape the future of UK housing?

Speakers:

  • Matthew Pennycook MP
  • Meg Hillier MP
  • Satvir Kaur MP
  • David Orr (Homes for All)
  • Kate Markey (Nationwide)
  • Jon Bernstein

12:00pm – 12:45pm | Meeting Room 11C, ACC | How can Labour end the housing crisis? (New Statesman and G15)

Speakers:

  • Fiona Fletcher Smith (G15)

12:30pm – 1:30pm | Meeting Room 10, ACC | Ending blanket bans on pets in privately rented homes: where next? (Mars Petcare and Battersea Dogs and Cats Home)  

Speakers:

  • Lorna Cattling (Mars Petcare)
  • Peter Laurie (Battersea Dogs and Cats Homes)
  • Misa von Tunzelman (Lendlease)

12:30pm – 2:00pm | Grace Suite 3, Hilton Hotel | Impact of Temporary Accommodation on Children (Shared Health Foundation). There are over 145,000 children experiencing homelessness in Temporary Accommodation. Can this government improve conditions for the country’s most vulnerable children and end child homelessness?

Speakers:

  • Siobhain McDonagh MP

12:30pm – 1:30pm | Meeting Room 12, ACC | Labour’s Housing Mission: Delivering Development in Partnership (Planning Futures and Vistry Group).

Speakers:

  • Cian Bryan (Planning Futures) (Chair)
  • Lindsey Richards (RTPI)
  • Andrew Taylor (Vistry Group)
  • Mark Washer (SNG)

12:30pm – 2:00pm | Arena Room 3, ACC | What role can housing associations play in delivering the biggest increase in affordable and social housing in a generation? (National Housing Federation in partnership with Karbon Homes and Guinness Homes).

Speakers:

  • Kate Henderson (NHF)
  • Catriona Simons (Guinness Homes)
  • Charlotte Carpenter (Karbon Homes)

1:00pm – 3:00pm | Princess Suite 3, Crowne Plaza | The Housing Revolution and Devolution: Building 1.5 Million Homes for England (English Labour Network)

Join us at Princess Suite 3 at the Crowne Plaza – Liverpool City Centre for a groundbreaking event on revolutionising housebuilding in England and the implications for devolution in England! We’re bringing together experts, policymakers, and innovators to discuss building 1.5 million homes to address the housing crisis.

Speakers:

  • Brenda Dacres (Mayor of Lewisham)
  • John Denham (former Communities Secretary and English Labour Network Director)
  • Cllr Vince Maple (Medway Council)
  • Graeme Craig (Places for London)
  • Cllr Anthony Okereke (Greenwich Council)
  • Kevin Henson (Gerald Eve)
  • Cllr Shama Tatler (London Borough of Brent)
  • Siddo Dywer (Concilio)
  • Catherine Rose (Concilio)

1:30pm – 2:30pm | Arena Room 10, ACC | What will Labour’s planning reforms mean for workers? (Britain Remade)

Speakers:

  • Sam Richards (Britain Remade)

2:30pm – 3:30pm | Maritime Museum, 4th Floor | The Future for Housing (Fabian Society and Hallam Land management).

Speakers:

  • Matthew Pennycook MP
  • Nick Duckworth (Hallam Land Management)
  • Cllr Sara Hyde (London Borough of Islington)

3:00pm – 4:00pm | 2nd floor, Atlantic Pavilion, Royal Albert Dock | Housing as a driver for growth (Chartered Institute of Housing). Hear from some of the leading voices in housing as we explore the sector’s crucial role in driving inclusive growth.

Speakers:

  • James Prestwich (Chartered Institute of Housing)

3:50pm – 4:50pm | Museum of Liverpool | Getting back to building: a new era for housing delivery (Reform Think Tank and TPXimpact). Government’s plan to get Britain building cannot be driven from Westminster. This panel will explore creating new integrated planning and delivery approaches subnational levels and partnering with businesses and communities to build the housing we need.

Speakers:

  • Dr Simon Kaye (Reform Think Tank)
  • Tracy Brabin (Mayor of West Yorkshire)
  • Peter Foster (Financial Times)
  • Stephen Webb (TPXimpact)

4:00pm – 5:30pm | Liverpool, ACC | Funding homes for social rent: a role for institutional capital: drinks reception (Prowgress)

Speakers:

  • Ike Mbamali (Prowgress)
  • Krista D’Alessandro (Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association)
  • Simon Century (Legal & General Capital)
  • Anthony Breach (Centre for Cities)
  • Cllr Vanisha Solanki (London Borough of Redbridge)

4:30pm – 6:00pm | Arena Room 3, ACC | A fair deal for all new home buyers (New Homes Quality Board). How do we ensure the proposed 1.5 million new homes to be built doesn’t come at the expense of quality?

4:30pm – 5:30pm | The Purpose Coalition Tent, ACC | Later life is for living: how can more homes for our ageing population benefit us all? (The Purpose Coalition and Anchor Hanover). With an estimated need for 50,000 homes for older people to be built each year, increasing supply can help us live independently for longer and free up family-sized homes for younger generations.

4.30pm – 5.30pm | Grace suite 2, Hilton Hotel | Turning houses into homes: a social with serious content (Labour Housing Group). How do we make sure that house and flats provide real homes for the occupants, ones with stability, comfort, affordability, and healthy environments?

Speakers:

  • Rachel Blake MP (chair)
  • Claire Donovan, End Furniture Poverty
  • John Glenton. Riverside Housing

5:00pm – 6:00pm | RIBA Office, RIBA North | How the built environment can deliver regional growth (CIOB, RIBA, RICS and RTPI). This reception provides MPs with an opportunity to find out about the crucial role the built environment plays in reaching net zero, creating vibrant communities and delivering regional growth.

6:00pm – 7:30pm | King’s Suite, Radisson Blu Hotel | Housing Equality: Creating a Housing System That Works For Everyone (Labour Housing Group)

Speakers:

  • Cllr Shreya Nanda (Social Market Foundation) (Chair)
  • Ben Twomey, Generation Rent
  • David Bridson, YMCA
  • Jack Shaw, Labour Housing Group
  • John Greaves, Places for People

6:00pm – 6:50pm | Arent Room 7, ACC | Unlocking Growth in South-East England (SME4Labour, Kanda Consulting)|

Speakers:

  • Jo Dancy (Kanda Consulting) (Chair)
  • Kevin Bonavia MP
  • Cllr Peter Marland (Milton Keynes Council)

7:00pm – 8:00pm | Arena Room 7, ACC | The new Labour Government: unlocking the homes London needs (Kanda Consulting, Royal Haulage Association and SME4Labour).

Speakers:

  • Ibrahim Dogus (SME4Labour) (Chair)
  • Karen Alcock (Kanda Consulting)
  • Tom Copley (GLA)
  • Cllr Shama Tatler (London Borough of Brent)
  • Graeme Craig (Places for London)

7:30pm – 8:30pm | Arena Room 5, ACC | Better Vision for Temporary Accommodation: Policy Launch (Justlife) . The event will discuss policy changes, shaped by the homelessness sector and people with lived experience, we believe would help build a future where experiences in TA are short, safe and healthy.

Tuesday 24th September

8:30am – 10:00am | Skills Hub, ACC | The Big Construction Debate (CECA, CPA, ACE, FMB, BMF). The environment in which we live and work is at a turning point. With ambitious housing targets to meet, a looming net zero deadline and a pressing need to develop the next generation of builders, how will we deliver a sustainable tomorrow?

9:00am – 9:45am | Meeting Room 11C, ACC | How Can a Labour Government Tackle the Housing Crisis and Get Britain Building Again? (New Statesman and Natwest Group).

10:30am – 12:00pm | Arena Room 10, ACC | Keeping Britain Warm While Saving Cash and Carbon: Delivering on Labour’s Net Zero Goals in the Home (Labour Climate and Environment Forum, EDF). How can a Labour government deliver on its net zero goals and ensure that people in the UK have affordable access to making their homes safe and warm?

Speakers:

  • Megan Corton Scott (LCEF)
  • Miatta Fanbulleh MP
  • Kieron Williams (Southwark Council)
  • Adam Scorer (National Energy Action)
  • Clare Moriarty (Citizens Advice)
  • Richard Hughes (EDF)

10:30am – 12:00pm | Meeting Room 4A, ACC |Sustainable Housing Forum: Creating Affordable Homes and Reducing Fuel Poverty (Thakeham). Labour is promising to deliver the biggest boost to affordable housing in a generation. Join the conversation on the holistic approach to affordable housing creation, fuel poverty reduction, and community building.

12:30pm – 1:30pm | Meeting Room 11A, ACC | The Road to Building 1.5m Homes (Labour Housing Group).

Speakers:

  • Cllr John Cotton (Birmingham City Council) (Chair)
  • Kate Henderson (National Housing Federation)
  • Mark Powell (EDAROTH)
  • Paul Brocklehurst (Land, Planning and Development Federation)
  • Dominic Armstrong, Community Union

1:00pm – 2:00pm | Meeting Room 4, Premier Meetings Liverpool Albert Dock | Will Labour’s Plans to Unlock the Planning System Really “Get Britain Building”? (City & Country)

Speakers:

  • Liz Hamson (BE News)
  • Chris Vince MP
  • Josh Dean MP
  • Michael Shanks MP

2:30pm – 4:00pm | Albert 3, Hilton Hotel | Citizen Panels: the YIMBY answer to better consultation? – Policy Launch and Drinks Reception (LGH Fabians & Leeds Building Society)

Speakers:

  • Chris Worrall (LGH Fabians) (Chair)
  • Cllr Shama Tatler (London Borough of Brent)
  • Tim Leunig (Public First)
  • Richard Fearon (Leeds Building Society)
  • Gemma Gallant (Iceni Projects)

3:00pm – 4:00pm | Meeting Room 4, Albert Dock Premier Inn | How Labour can solve the housing crisis in a sustainable way (Structural Timber Association)

Speakers:

  • Jon Craig, Chief Political Correspondent, Sky News (Chair)
  • Naushabah Khan MP, Member of Parliament for Gillingham and Rainham
  • Mike Reader MP, Member of Parliament for Northampton South
  • Andrew Carpenter, Chief Executive Officer, Structural Timber Association
  • Branwen Evans, Group Director, Sustainability and Policy, Places for People

3:30pm – 4:15pm | Meeting Room 11C, ACC | Getting Onto the Property Ladder: How Could a Labour Government Support First Time Buyers? (New Statesman and Santander)

3:30pm – 4:30pm | Progressive Britain Hub, ACC | Reigniting the Homeownership Dream: Listening to the Voice of First Time Buyers (Progressive Britain and Moneybox). Join us for a dynamic event with Moneybox, home of the largest community of aspiring first time buyers in the UK, as they launch their Voice of First Time Buyers White Paper, sharing findings and insights from the report and discussing policy recommendations for the Labour government.

4:00pm – 5:00pm | Arena Room 6, ACC | How Can the Government Make Sure It Delivers the Houses Britain Needs? (Institute for Government & Thakeham).

Speakers:

  • Nehal Davison (Institute for Government) (Chair)
  • Rob Boughton (Thakeham)
  • Sophie Metcalfe (Institute for Government)
  • Dan Tomlinson MP

5:00pm – 6:00pm | Progressive Britain Hub, ACC | A New Generation of Social Housing? (Progressive Britain, Inside Housing and JRF). Labour will build 1.5m new homes this Parliament. How does it make sure those least able to afford a home have access to one, and can build a foundation for a better life. Join Matthew Pennycook MP, Housing Minister and other panellists to discuss. Wine, beer and soft drinks available

Speakers:

  • Matthew Pennycook MP
  • Darren Baxter (JRF)
  • Bronwen Rapley (Homes for the North)
  • Kieron Williams (Southwark Council)
  • Kath Swindells (Inside Housing)

Exhibition:

ECL Building:

B11: The Property Institute

The Property Institute (TPI) is the professional body for residential property managers in Britain, facilitating safer managed property communities. It actively supports its members to continually improve building management standards through OFQUAL-accredited professional qualifications, ongoing professional development and auditing of firms, and it is calling for regulation of property agents to ensure people’s homes are managed competently, safely, and ethically.

C7: Crisis

Crisis is the national charity for people facing homelessness. By working together, we can build a future free from homelessness. Visit us to understand homelessness in your area and the solutions needed so that everyone has a home, including more about our work with our partners Lloyds Banking Group.

C20: IKEA and Shelter

IKEA and housing and homelessness charity, Shelter, have formed a long-term partnership to defend the one thing we value most: home. Together, our aim is to ensure that by 2030, half a million people have access to a better life at home, by building 90,000 new social homes a year.

D2: Retirement Housing Group

The Retirement Housing Group is a membership body representing organisations providing all types of retirement housing. Established in 1995, it is the only body of its type. Retirement housing provides a solution for older people looking for more assistance. However, numerous restraints mean the UK does not build enough housing suitable for its ageing population. The RHG aims to improve affordable housing choices for the growing number of older people.

G5: Propertymark

Propertymark is the UK’s leading professional body for property agents. We campaign to raise standards for consumers who are renting, buying and selling property as well as amongst professionals working in the sector. Visit us to discuss and learn about the reforms needed to solve the housing crisis.

G20: Wates

As the UK’s leading family-owned development, building and property maintenance company, we have a proud legacy in the built environment. We know that the places where we live, work and play influence every aspect of our lives. In 2024, we entered our 127th year of business. Over the decades we have developed and maintained the resilience to survive and grow despite the many economic and geopolitical challenges we have ffaced. In the face of today’s environmental and social pressures, we know the built environment must do more. It can help unlock people’s potential, improve health and wellbeing, and shape future prospects. We are driven by our purpose of reimagining places for people to thrive.

ACC Building

AC10: Homelesslink

AC20 Thakeham

Thakeham, a sustainable placemaker, focuses on biodiversity and zero carbon hoes by 2025. Their homes include solar panels, heat pumps, EV chargers, and rainwater harvesting. Thakeham leads in UK community creation, integrating schools, healthcare, sports, and community-run amenities, emphasising community well-being and a sense of belonging.

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“But what will Labour do differently?”

Keir Starmer speaks at USDAW Conference, Blackpool, United Kingdom - 29 April 2024 by Keir Starmer is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 DEED

The general election is well underway. Across the country, thousands of Labour activists are speaking with voters and making the case for them to put their trust in us.

By all indicators, Britain is sick of fourteen years of Conservative failure. Only 15% of voters are satisfied with the government, and only 16% with Rishi Sunak’s record.

But we cannot take for granted the millions of voters intending to vote Labour, and need to reach out to the millions still who have not made up their minds. The need to make the case for a Labour government is greater than ever.

Voters may be sick of the Conservatives, but will still ask that crucial question: “what will Labour do differently?”

Housing is one of the sharpest dividing lines of this election. As the housing crisis intensifies it has risen up the list of voters’ priorities. It is an area where the Conservatives have most evidently failed, and where Labour has a clear plan.

Labour’s manifesto may well drop soon- this usually happens three weeks before an election. But, until then, how do we answer this question from voters?

Delivering the homes we need

Since the Second World War, the UK has failed to build 4.3 million homes compared to the average European country. Campaigns across the political spectrum recognise the need to build at least 300,000 a year to meet this backlog.

The Conservatives promised this at the last election, but repeatedly failed to deliver. They dropped a promised reform of the planning system to get Britain building, and scrapped their own housing target to appease their own backbenchers.

Meanwhile, a decade of austerity has hollowed out council planning departments, preventing them from making local plans to let communities have a say in what homes are built where. By accelerating the Right to Buy they sold off 113,000 council homes, while the number of households in temporary accommodation has soared to over 100,000.

Labour has a plan to undo these mistakes. With a sizeable majority, Labour will have the ability to reform the planning system to get Britian building, prioritising brownfield land to deliver 1.5 million homes over the next Parliament. By also reforming planning and slowing down the Right to Buy, Labour plans to deliver the biggest boost to affordable housing in a generation.

This won’t just be a builders’ charter either. By recruiting 300 extra local planners, Labour will empower local communities to take back control of their local areas and have a say over what is built where. And Labour will ensure that Section 106 agreements by developers are met, so that essential schools, roads, and GP surgeries are delivered alongside the homes we need.

Key to this will be a fresh generation of New Towns, built with mandated principles behind them, of 40% affordable and social homes, community infrastructure, transport links, and beautiful design.

By delivering the homes the country needs, Labour will put in the cornerstone to tackling the housing crisis.

Ending exploitation in the private rental sector and leasehold

The housing shortage has enabled bad actors in the private rental sector to abuse their power. While rents skyrocket, tenants are forced into overcrowded, poor-quality accommodation, often with the threat of eviction if they ask for even the slightest improvements.

The Conservatives came to power with a crystal-clear commitment to strengthen renters’ rights, and even introduced legislation in 2021 to do so. But the chaos of three prime ministers and sixhousing ministers, and the opposition of a hardcore lobby of landlord MPs have obstructed progress, and so Rishi Sunak failed to get this bill passed into law.

Not only will Labour strengthen protections for renters, but they will go further to ensure that they have the stability they deserve. A Labour government will end Section 21 ‘no-fault’ evictions, ensure that reported hazards in private rented homes are investigated within 14 days, and outlaw rental bidding wars.

Similarly, the Conservatives promised to reform the feudal practice of leasehold, to protect leaseholders from exploitative service charges and unfair practice. But, once again, this was watered down. A Labour government will pick up their mess by implementing the thorough recommendations for reform presented by the Law Commission.

Better and warmer homes

The UK has some of the oldest housing stock and least energy efficient homes in Europe. As a result, residents pay more for less, with higher energy bills, colder homes, and health risks from damp and mould, while heating our buildings also comprises 14% of our carbon emissions.  

Improving the quality of our homes will improve lives, tackle climate change and make the UK less reliant on oil-rich dictators like Vladimir Putin.

But Rishi Sunak has failed to take the necessary steps to improve home quality. Not only did he scrap the UK’s Energy Efficiency Taskforce as a political stunt, but his Great British Insulation Scheme, designed to insulate 300,000 homes by 2026, has so far only helped 7,720 households.  

Labour has a clear plan to improve home quality for the millions impacted by our poor-quality stock. A Labour government will introduce a ‘Decent Homes Standard 2’ for the private rental sector, after the first iteration by the Blair government improved lives for millions of renters. Meanwhile, a Warm Homes Plan will insulate 5 million homes by 2030, bringing them up to a minimum EPC C rating.

Reasons for hope

Fourteen years of Conservative housing failure have left the whole country footing the bill. But a Labour government with the energy and passion for change can put a stop to this. The party has a clear plan to deliver the homes we need, improve the ones we have, and protect from exploitation those at the sharpest end of the housing crisis.

“What will Labour do differently?” In housing, a hell of a lot.   

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Tackling Temporary Accommodation: Labour Housing Group’s Recommendations

When we talk about homelessness, our thoughts often turn to people in doorways and tents, living on the streets of our towns and cities. Rough sleeping is the most extreme and dangerous form of homelessness and the increasing numbers experiencing it is easy to see. Shocking as this is, it is just the visible tip of the now vast homelessness crisis.

Earlier this month Hannah Keilloh set out both the human and financial cost of this hidden crisis. 123,000 homeless families are living in temporary accommodation (TA) including 140,000 children. More than £1.7 billion spent in 2022-23 to “temporarily” house people, often in appalling conditions.  Two thirds of the families have been in TA for more than a year, some for more than a decade – their lives on hold as they wait for the settled and secure home that everyone deserves.

There is an urgent need for action to tackle this and last summer I was pleased to join Labour Housing Group’s policy working group to help develop proposals we would like to see Labour’s manifesto.

The Group’s aims were to bring forward proposals to reduce the cost of temporary accommodation and to improve the quality of accommodation being used. But also to work towards a greater mission – to prevent people from becoming homelessness and, when that isn’t possible, to ensure that temporary accommodation is truly temporary and their homelessness ended as quickly as possible.

Strategy and leadership to enable change

Tackling homelessness requires consistent, coordinated action and commitment across multiple areas government – national, regional and local. It requires a true team effort with government and public agencies working hand in hand with housing and third sector support providers and communities.

Adopting an overarching homelessness strategy might not sound like the biggest ask, and yet the UK is one of the few nations in Europe that does not have one. The next government should swiftly correct this. It should be coproduced and delivered in partnership with people with lived experience of homelessness, and the local authorities and voluntary & community organisations working on the frontline. It won’t be easy to break the silos. Strong leadership will be needed to develop and deliver this across government – the report recommends the appointment of a homelessness Tsar, who will need political support at the very highest level.

At its heart, Labour’s approach should have an understanding that the causes and impacts of homelessness are diverse and unequal. Women make up 60% of adults in temporary accommodation with violent relationship breakdown as a leading cause.  Black people are three and a half times more likely to experience homelessness as White British people and a quarter of young people at risk of homelessness identify as LGBTQ+. Labour’s strategy must recognise disadvantage and discrimination. It must enable person centred and trauma informed approaches to meet diverse needs.

Low cost, high impact changes

Preventing homelessness and the need for temporary accommodation is our ultimate aim, but to alleviate the immediate TA crisis Labour must act swiftly to lower the barriers people face to moving on from TA, refuges and other homelessness accommodation. Too often people are stuck on social housing waiting lists and blocked from private rental tenancies. It is in many ways akin to bed blocking – people unable to move to somewhere more suitable and the “beds” in good quality, local accommodation unavailable for newly homeless people.

The report recommends that social housing allocation policies should give greater priority to people experiencing homelessness and that more housing association lettings should be reserved for people experiencing homelessness. The report particularly recommends that policies should far greater support to those who have spent more than a year in TA.

Action should also be taken to remove barriers from securing private rented accommodation. This should include increasing the budget and eligibility for Discretionary Housing Payments and enabling local authorities to expand of funding of deposits and rent in advance. Reforms should also require landlords and agents to accept offers of written guarantees (for instance from local authorities) instead of cash deposits.

Investing in the future

The working group recognises the financial and economic challenges a Labour government would face. However, there is strong evidence that investing to end homelessness is money well spent with PWC finding every £1 invested could save up to £2.80 of spending across the public sector.

We recommend a comprehensive, cross government review of current spending on supporting the homelessness crisis – both direct spend on TA and homelessness support and the hidden costs of homelessness including within health, social care and criminal justice budgets. Our proposals for investment include additional ring fenced funding for homelessness prevention, a local authority TA acquisitions programme and funding of a robust inspection and enforcement regime to ensure existing legal standards for TA are met.

Ultimately Labour must make it their mission to end poverty and destitution. That means investing to tackle the housing crisis by building at least 90,000 new social homes per year and, alongside the new deal for working people, fixing the gaping holes in the social welfare safety net.

With real determination and ambition we believe a Labour government could end the homelessness crisis and we urge Labour to take up this challenge.

Find out more

There will be an online launch for Labour Housing Group’s policy paper on temporary accommodation on Tuesday the 27th of February at 10am. Register for that here.

Click here to read the full report.

Fiona Colley is Director of Social Change at Homeless Link, the national membership body for organisations working directly with people who become homeless in England.

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Invest to save: essential for solving the temporary accommodation crisis, Labour Housing Group says

Why Labour Housing Group’s invest to save  approach is needed to resolve the temporary accommodation crisis

A safe, stable, and decent home is a foundational building block for life. Home is our space away from the rest of the world where we can relax and feel secure.  However, in England, 140,000 children head into 2024 living not in a ‘home’ at all, but instead living in temporary accommodation (TA). 

To put it in context that’s the equivalent of over 4,600 classes of children, or 220 entire primary schools. Or the entire population of Watford! The numbers are huge, and they are only going up (this figure was a 14 per cent increase on the previous year). Behind every number is a child and a family.  Some will stay there a few days but more often stays in TA last months and even years. Almost certainly their TA will be overcrowded and all too often it will be of poor quality.  

The reality of this situation is often children having to share beds with siblings or parents and babies with no safe sleeping space at all. Young children with no safe place to play, and older children with nowhere to do their homework. Children are getting to school tired and late having travelled long distances to their schools (having often been placed out of area). Parents losing their jobs because the length of commute to work is now impossible.  Stressed-out parents struggling to feed their children decent meals without any suitable cooking facilities. Families are living in limbo and moving frequently, with constant uncertainty and insecurity.

TA is a broad term and can include B&Bs, hostels, hotels, private rented houses or flats, and council or housing association properties. TA has an important role to play in emergencies: providing short-term housing until settled accommodation can be secured. However, this is where things have come seriously unstuck.  A chronic shortage of new social housing under successive governments, rapidly rising private rents, a local housing allowance that has failed to consistently keep pace with inflation, all coupled with a cost of living crisis, means more and more households are finding themselves forced into homelessness and ending up in TA.  

The reasons for ending up in TA are the same reasons that people find themselves stuck there for increasingly long periods – there is nowhere affordable or suitable to move people onto. Data from Shelter in 2022 revealed two-thirds of families living in TA have been there for more than 12 months, and this rises to more than four-fifths in London. Some families have been living in TA for more than 10 years. Ten years – this means some children have only ever lived in temporary accommodation never knowing or having the security of a fixed home.

This is no longer a temporary housing solution; it is becoming an unofficial tenure in itself.

Whilst very difficult for the families affected, TA is also very challenging for local authorities.  As we see more and more councils teetering on the brink of Section 114 notices, recent figures released by DLUHC show that from April 2022-March 2023 £1.74 billion was spent by councils on temporary accommodation.  In some cases, councils are using between one fifth and one half of their total available financial resources on it.  This is unsustainable but it doesn’t have to be this way. 

In summer 2023 Labour Housing Group set up a working group to look at the issue of families in TA.  After consulting with the wider housing and homelessness sector, the group has now produced a working paper with a framework of essential actions for the next Labour government. With the situation growing worse by the day, the premise of the framework is to ensure that TA is a priority for the first 100 days of a new administration. 

Solving this crisis and releasing people from the grips of TA will require a long-term ‘invest to save’ approach.

There will be an online launch for Labour Housing Group’s policy paper on temporary accommodation on Tuesday the 27th of February at 10am. Register for that here.

Read a summary of the report here, and click here for the full report.

Hannah Keilloh is an experienced Policy and Practice Officer at the Chartered Institute of Housing, specialising in homelessness, domestic abuse, and planning.

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Furniture Poverty and the role of furnished tenancies in social housing

Furniture poverty is too often hidden behind front doors. There are at least 6 million people in the UK living without essential furniture items and this could be a cooker, a fridge, or a child’s bed.

As the Cost of Living crisis continues to devastate lives, this figure is rising every day. If people cannot afford food, how can we expect them to be able to afford to replace a broken cooker?

Living in furniture poverty has a terrible impact on your life, affecting people’s physical and mental health, and their social and financial wellbeing. It can mean people turn to unaffordable credit to buy the items that they need, leaving them unable to pay rent or buy food; it can lead to social isolation as the stigma means family, friends or support workers are no longer invited into homes without a sofa to sit on; and it can lead to unhealthy diets and poor health without a cooker to prepare food or a fridge to store it in.

Of course, furniture poverty is about poverty, it is about people not having enough money to live on. It is about a broken welfare system, unaffordable housing, and insecure low-paid employment. But there are steps that can be taken now to lift people out of furniture poverty and provide them with a decent furnished home – and the social housing sector has a vital role to play.

At End Furniture Poverty, our research has shown that only 2% of social housing is let as furnished or part furnished, compared to 29% of private rental properties. We also know that 26% of social housing tenants are living in furniture poverty, living without one or more essential furniture item.

Those fleeing domestic violence, or moving from homelessness, often have no furniture at all, so are moving into an empty box. Even simply moving from a furnished property in the private rental sector to the social housing sector can leave tenants with no furniture, appliances, flooring or window coverings. Other sources of support for furniture and white goods are much harder to access as 37 local authorities in England have closed their local welfare provision schemes as they face enormous budgetary burdens, and charities are overwhelmed with the demand for help.

A furnished tenancy scheme can provide the answer

Furnished tenancies mean a landlord can provide all of the furniture items a tenant needs, including floor and window coverings, and then recoup the costs through the service charge element of Universal Credit. It provides a sustainable, long-term solution for tenants who are on benefits and likely to remain on benefits. This relieves the burden on local welfare schemes and the third sector, and frees up support for others in furniture poverty.

Some landlords offer furniture gifting schemes or small furniture reuse programmes and while these are vital tools, they cannot provide a comprehensive, sustainable solution given the scale of the issue. We need a blended approach, with a furnished tenancy scheme supplemented by reuse and gifting.

We believe that at least 10% of social housing stock should be let as furnished, a figure calculated using the current FT rates in social housing and number of social housing tenants in deep furniture poverty, lacking three or more essential items. Existing furnished tenancy schemes have also naturally balanced at around 10% of their housing stock so it is a robust figure.

We are already working with Liverpool City Council to encourage the local housing associations to commit to this target and we believe every social landlord in the UK should join them. Local authorities own 55% of social housing too, and with ambitious plans for more council housing on the horizon, now is the time for a sector-wide, firm commitment to furniture provision.

A guide for social landlords

To support social landlords, End Furniture Poverty has published a Blueprint for Furniture Provision in Social Housing, a step-by-step guide for landlords to understand how to develop their scheme, looking at everything from finance, staffing, asset management and much more. It also outlines the broader benefits to landlords with case studies from existing schemes including data around the impact of furniture provision with reduced rental arrears and tenancy churn, improved tenancy sustainability and reduced void costs.

Furniture Flex- one example of a delivery model

We have also been working with our colleagues in our wider group of charities, FRC Group, to develop an even better delivery model with Furniture Flex. We have brought together our knowledge from conversations with landlords across the country over several years, considering all of the barriers and challenges they face to get a scheme off the ground, and believe we have offered solutions to all.

FRC has been supplying furniture to landlords for many years, and as a registered charity and social enterprise, 100% of the surplus is reinvested back into the group to help us to achieve our charitable mission to end furniture poverty.

Furniture Flex offers landlords the option of purchasing the furniture with a more traditional furnished tenancy route when the landlord owns and controls the asset, or a rental model, where Furniture Flex retains ownership and the landlord pays the rental cost through the service charge. The rental model overcomes that barrier for tenants who may find employment and move off benefits as they can simply return the furniture and reduce or remove the service charge.

Furniture Flex also provides increased administration support for those smaller landlords who find the perceived admin burden a stumbling block. It also allows landlords to support tenants with one or two items, again relieving the burden on local authority crisis schemes.

Whichever route a landlord chooses to acquire their furniture, whether it is Furniture Flex or another provider, End Furniture Poverty is here to support them at every step of the way, from building business cases to assessing the impact of pilots.

The current system of moving our most vulnerable citizens into empty boxes has to change and furnished tenancies provide an ideal solution. Together we can End Furniture Poverty.

LHG will be ‘In Conversation’ with Claire Donovan at 6pm on the 22nd of February 2024, to further discuss furniture poverty and possible solutions. Find more details of that here.

Claire Donovan, a former journalist, is the Head of Policy, Research and Campaigns at End Furniture Poverty, which raises awareness of the issue of Furniture Poverty; carries out research to highlight
the consequences and reality of living in Furniture Poverty; and develops solutions. Claire is also a trustee of the Reuse Network.

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Planning for 1.5m homes: What are Labour’s Options for Reform?

Key to Labour’s policy offer is a pledge to build 1.5 million homes during the next parliament. Doing so would be transformative, lowering costs, creating tens of thousands of new jobs, and funding the creation of a new generation of affordable and social houses. 

Increasing housebuilding is easier said than done. Despite a similar target of 300,000 homes a year, the current government is well short of this. Only 232,800 homes were delivered last year, and a downturn is expected as the country’s economic situation worsens. 

Reforming the planning system will be a key plank of achieving this goal, after being identified as the most substantial barrier to delivering new homes in a survey by the Federation of Master Builders. This will not be easy, however, given how complicated the planning system is. 

The problems with the planning system go well beyond the obstacles it presents to building new homes, and it rarely incentivises building high-quality dwellings well-resourced by local infrastructure and amenities. But, in order to achieve its goal of 1.5 million homes, a future Labour government will need to find priority areas to alter in ways which maximise impact while reducing controversy.

Reducing the Burden

The planning system is burdensome for everyone involved. While debate often focuses on the onus on housebuilders, any document filled in by a developer also has to be read by a planning officer, councillors, and locals keen to have an input into developments in their area. 

This is in part due to regulations being duplicated, between national and local requirements, and within the same local authority. There will be a degree of overlap, for instance, between a tree survey, arboriculture impact assessment, and biodiversity survey. But some councils ask developers for all three. 

This can also be due to regulation being in the planning system inappropriately, regardless of how noble its intensions are. For instance, it is currently impossible to build homes in areas with particularly high nutrient pollution – even though new housing contributes to less than 1% of said pollution. 

A root and branch review of the planning system, ensuring that regulations are not duplicated are in the right place, would reduce the burden for everybody involved in planning and speed up the pipeline of new homes.

Standardising Requirements

Similarly, the complexity of the planning map is an obstacle to building new homes. England contains 391 local planning authorities, ranging from Rutland and its 41,381 residents to Birmingham, the largest local authority in Europe. 

Each of these areas will then have subtle differences in regulations required. These can be seen in the ‘planning validation checklist’, a list of planning documents local planning that authorities are required to publish. Research conducted by the Housing Forum has shown that many authorities lack an up-to-date checklist, and of those that did, the number of documents required to build as few as 10 homes could range from 24 to 42. 

Simplifying and standardising requirements between local authorities, and even considering more radical steps like transferring planning powers to county or combined authorities, would reduce local variation, without reducing the quality of regulation.

Supporting Planners

Delays in the planning system are in part caused by capacity issues in local authorities. Only one in ten local authorities have fully staffed planning departments, with 70% reporting difficulties recruiting new planners. This is fuelled by pay disparity between public and private sectors, difficult backlogs, and online abuse – as a result a quarter of planners have left the public sector in the last ten years. 

It is in part due to this that one in five local authorities still lack an up-to-date local plan. 

Reversing this decline in the public sector would speed up the delivery of planning applications, improve the institutional expertise within the planning system, and help local authorities and developers to work together more effectively to deliver locally appropriate schemes.

Repositioning Democratic Input

Much as excessive paperwork makes navigating the planning system difficult for everyone involved, so too does the nature of democratic input frustrate both those seeking to build new homes, and residents looking to have an impact on their local community. 

Currently, locals get most involved in commenting on individual planning applications, which will already have been drawn up in partnership with a developer and a local authority. The fact that 90 percent of planning applications in the UK are approved points to the fact that most of these are a finalised and detailed product. Thus local input is often perfunctory and ineffective, and many can feel that they have little voice in the process. 

Similarly, developers often express concern that plans can either be delayed or cancelled outright by a particularly vocal local campaign, and councillors can often feel pressured by a vocal minority of residents who often little as small as 1 – 3 percent of a local population 

Meanwhile, as Labour’s Planning Commission (2019) notes, engaging at an earlier stage, when councils draw up their local plans, “often made plan making unapproachable and sometimes intimidating for residents”. After all, residents are seldom planners, architects, or contractors: but they contain valuable knowledge about their local area which should be put to use in constructing local plans. 

Simplifying democratic input at the local plan making stage would make it easier for local people to get involved, for councils to focus attention to a single event, while empowering a greater range of voices.  

This is similar to the calls for a ‘zoning’ system, promoted by organisations such as the Centre for Cities. This would bring the UK in line with comparable democracies, by removing the discretionary nature of the planning system, where planning committees decide on individual applications. Instead land would be designated for a certain use, such as ‘housing’, ‘industry’, or ‘commercial use’, and a set of regulations then applied. Developments which followed these regulations would then be automatically approved. 

Countries like New Zealand, and individual cities like Austin in the US changed their planning systems from discretionary ones to zoning systems, and both saw an increase in housebuilding and a comparative decrease in house prices.  

While moving to such a system would require intensive legislation, moving community input upstream in the planning system could be a suitable stepping stone to simplify the democratic process while broadening it out to a wider audience. 

Reforming the planning system is far from an easy process, and successive governments have promised it and failed to deliver. But identifying achievable and high impact goals will be crucial for a future Labour government to speed up the delivery of homes and meet its 1.5 million home goal. 

This is the first part of a 4-part series in what a Labour government can do to meet its 1.5 million homes goal. Stay tuned for future instalments!

Alex Toal is Communications Executive at The Housing Forum, a cross-sector housing membership organisation representing local authorities, housing associations, contractors and a range of other housing sector organisations. Before joining THF, Alex worked at the Institute for Government and Make Votes Matter, and is a ward organiser for Cities of London and Westminster PPC Rachel Blake. Based in Haringey, Alex helps to run his local LGBTQ+ tennis group and volunteers at his local food bank.

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Student Housing & the Next Labour Government

As a recent graduate, I remember vividly the housing experiences of my time at university. Most students have horror stories about their flatmates coming home late and causing a ruckus, or messy nights out (and the following 9am lectures), but if you dig a little deeper, you’ll find stories of horrendous housing conditions, absent or hostile landlords, and university housing teams that often aren’t able to provide detailed or timely advice. In fact, as is sometimes the case, these teams aren’t there to help at all, such as with one current student telling me that “(their) university provides almost no guidance on seeking accommodation beyond halls.”.

While it should be said that many universities try their best with what resources they have, the crisis is national. Even the most effective university housing departments will struggle to plug the gaps without serious governmental intervention.

The problem we face

Many students in the private rented sector suffer in sub-par housing, paying extortionate rents, with nowhere and nobody to turn to for help. Often, the only ports of call are overstretched and underfunded charities like Shelter and Citizens Advice. This problem is exacerbated by the fact that many parents of students (especially those from lower-income backgrounds) are themselves renters and, in many cases, don’t know their own rights. This means these parents are often not in a position to lend help or advice when their children face housing issues.

During university, I had a drawn-out experience with a landlord who was personally quite hostile, and importantly did not abide by the law. A few of the breaches were fairly serious, such as not having a proper HMO licence for part of our stay, and not protecting our deposit in time in line with the regulations. HMO licences were introduced by the last Labour Government in the Housing Act (2004), alongside the requirement to properly protect tenancy security deposits with government-approved schemes. The licences were intended to improve housing conditions in places where properties were ‘Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs)’, as these are often where the most vulnerable reside, and deposit protection was introduced to afford tenants an impartial adjudicator where disputes arise over damage – as they so often do.

HMOs in England and Wales generally cover households of three or more unrelated groups, with mandatory licensing at five. Their purpose was to set down strict requirements regarding things like fire safety. Local authorities can set their own ‘Additional’ or ‘Selective’ schemes, with lower barriers before licensing becomes mandatory (for example, fewer tenants needed before a licence is required).

What recourse do students have?

If students face similar situations, what recourse is available? Some, but only if they know they it’s there. For example, with HMO regulations there is legislative provision for claims in some cases, but most students wouldn’t even know that HMO licences exist, much less how to deal with a situation where a landlord doesn’t have one. Other situations, such as when a landlord doesn’t protect a deposit in line with the law, can cost in excess of £300 to bring (unless you qualify for help with fees). They also have specific and somewhat arcane procedures that must be followed, lest a student open themselves up to cost and procedural arguments by a landlord who can likely afford a solicitor.

Claims like these can require in-person court hearings, which can be intimidating for anyone, let alone someone such as a student. Many also feel it to be pointless – as another student tells me: “students will live as they are, as they’re moving out in a year anyway” – something that law-breaking landlords no doubt rely on. Local authorities do have the power to prosecute landlords who break some of the more serious rules, but it is hardly surprising that in an era of mass funding cuts, they have run out of the time and money to do so.

The regulation is not enough.

The above covers claims with legislative recourse, but many breaches do not have such clear-cut paths to remediation or, even more importantly, preventing further transgressions. For example, many private tenants are used to landlords and agents demanding access to their property, sometimes without proper notice, and sometimes for spurious reasons. Many are unaware of quiet enjoyment, which is an implied term into every Assured Shorthold Tenancy, and guarantees ‘quiet enjoyment’ of the property without undue interference from the landlord or those acting on their behalf. Of those who are aware and choose to enforce it, they tend to have very little success. Damages in such cases are minimal if existent at all. At best, they might (in more serious cases) be able to obtain an injunction. This again, though, requires the tenant to not only be aware of their rights, but also the method (and perils) of enforcing them.

Where do we go from here?

So, how is this dire situation to be rectified? We can start by building on the successes of the last Labour Government.

The introduction of penalties up to 3x the deposit for non-compliance with the regulations were very effective. Allowing Rent Repayment Orders for non-compliance with HMO licensing regulations were also a good step forward. But we must go further. If a student does find themselves in need of advice, universities should be their first port of call. As such, government should legislate to ensure university student unions have an in-house or contracted full-time worker to deal exclusively with housing cases and advice. These individuals would ideally be lawyers, or at least have some form of legal training. Universities should also be encouraged to set up support groups and networks for students to share experiences on housing and how to deal with situations.

Aside from the private rented sector, many students in university-run halls are considered in law to be excluded occupiers (they are specifically excluded from protections afforded to tenants under the 1988 Housing Act and a subsequent Statutory Instrument), and therefore do not have the same rights and recourse that Assured Shorthold Tenants do. Labour should legislate to remove this loophole, ensuring that the protections apply equally to all tenants, regardless of who owns their housing.

In addition, Labour should build on the good work of the introduction of mandatory HMO licencing schemes, by lowering the threshold for mandatory licensing to that which many local authorities have rightly chosen: 3 or more unrelated people/households living in one property. This would provide greater protection to students especially, but also some of the poorest and most vulnerable in society, who often have little choice but to share accommodation.

Section 21 (no-fault) evictions are often used as a last line of defence for landlords guilty of breaking the law and being challenged on such breaches, and so it goes without saying that these must be scrapped. This must be implemented carefully, however, as some landlords may choose to raise rents to an unaffordable degree as a no-fault eviction by proxy. Measures therefore must be put in place to avoid this.

Of course, all of the best regulation and rights are pointless if tenants don’t know they exist or how to enforce them. This is why a key priority needs to be proper funding for local authorities to enforce regulations and dissemination of materials detailing rights and remedies to tenants, particularly students. This can be done in many ways, such as via public information campaigns, reframing the ‘How to Rent’ guide as aimed at explaining rights and remedies (including, for example, methods of claim), stricter penalties for landlords not providing the guide, or by encouraging universities and local authorities to provide the information actively to students.

These policies will not singlehandedly solve the wider housing crisis we face – but they would go some way to providing a more stable and equitable housing situation for many.

Johnathan Guy is an LHG member and Labour activist, currently working as a software engineer for a startup.

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More Snakes than Ladders

Occasionally an article comes along that encapsulates what you’re thinking. In the January 11 Economist there was an article entitled ‘The Housing Ladder, 1950-2005’ (https://econ.st/48Svcls note paywall) which came close to summing up my gloom about housing policy over recent decades. Its key theme is that ‘a redundant metaphor (the housing ladder) is blinding policymakers’.

The ‘housing ladder’ has been with us as an idea for a long time, and I remember being subject to endless images of ladders when I was on the board of a major housing association, being used to justify turning away from the production of social rent homes. It was linked closely to the other deadly notion of aspiration, which was of course defined in a way that suited the new policy. 

I used to argue a) that the first step on the real housing ladder is a decent affordable home in any tenure, noting that the ladder might only have one rung, and that b) being brought up in an aspirational working-class family meant that my parents wanted their children to stay at school and have better chances in life, their own wishes to own a home were real but secondary. I always hoped that the housing ladder as a concept would wither away and stop being so damaging to the emergence of a comprehensive cross-tenure housing policy, but it looks once again that it will be the main housing topic when the general election comes.

Of course, calling out the housing ladder as a myth is likely to get you classified as a wild-eyed loon – it is so firmly in the centre of housing’s Overton window (ie the range of acceptable opinion) and is used by media and politicians of all shades all the time – so it’s great to see a serious mag taking the idea to task.  

‘The housing ladder’ is the notion that aspiring people will naturally progress (through thrift and hard work – and by avoiding smashed avocado on toast) from buying a modest flat (or even a share of one) at a young-ish age then trading up over the years as incomes grow and housing equity increases. 

Graphic: The Economist, based on ONS data.

The problem is the facts no longer fit the fable, as the article shows. Home ownership peaked 20 years ago at 70% and has since fallen despite vast policy interventions. The ratio of house prices to earnings was around four from 1950s-1990s and is now eight. Home ownership before 30 is now around a third when it used to be more than a half and is increasingly dependent on inherited wealth or family support. Those who make it onto the ladder are much less likely to trade up. The flood of easy mortgage finance across the world following financial deregulation is now a thing of the past, after the USA mortgage market triggered the global financial collapse, and homeowners’ vulnerability to higher interest rates is now plain to see. The Tories, at huge cost, have tried to reinvigorate home ownership through demand subsidies, but the 1990s paradigm isn’t returning any time soon.

The Economist, data from the Resolution Foundation.

The article places the right to buy of council homes in this context, noting that this ‘one time trick’ transferred a tenth of the housing stock from the state to private ownership in a little over a decade, costing billions but giving a major boost to the appearance of success of home ownership. It also comments that even the successful implementation of the target to build 300,000 homes a year for a decade would only reduce the house-price to earnings ratio to 7. It argues that the ageing population means that homes recycle back onto the market much more slowly than they did.

Normally if I make this kind of argument I get challenged with the sneer: ‘I bet you are a homeowner’. Indeed, I am, and I’m a classic housing ladder person although without much trading up – starting in a council house, fortunate to buy a share of a £15,000 London house in a poor area in the 1970s because it was cheaper than private renting, just when Westminster Council allowed joint mortgages between unrelated people for the first time. All I had to do was sit and watch the value rise. But the responsibility of the lucky generation – mine – is to think about what policies are suitable for the less lucky generations that have followed.

So, as the article states, the private rented sector is no longer ‘a waiting room’ prior to home ownership. It is a destination. Social housing has been shrunk massively and deliberately and can no longer meet more than a small share of need. Those who get into home ownership are taking on mortgages well into normal retirement age. The housing costs of older people – home owners and private renters alike – are escalating rapidly, pensioner poverty will rise, and the state will catch much of the burden.

“The housing ladder may have died two decades ago but its allure as a metaphor remains. That continues to blind Britain’s politicians and voters to the reality of the property market. Rather than harking back to a bygone age, Britain’s politicians need to accept that there is more to housing than home ownership.”

The Economist.

The case I’ve always made is for a comprehensive national housing strategy that covers all tenures, building on their strengths and tackling their weaknesses. It will take a generation to turn things around and to stop housing costs crippling most of our households. In case you doubt it, I support home ownership as the preference and the best solution for many households. It will rise again in a sustainable way when peoples’ incomes rise in relation to property prices, so we should build more, subsidising supply where it is sensible but not wasting cash on demand subsidies that push prices up. We must tackle land costs and developers’ profit-first models. We must build much more social housing for those that need decent homes at lower rents, a hugely successful model that requires investment but not ongoing subsidy. And we must professionalise the private rented sector, the last great unmodernised industry, defining its role more clearly as home ownership and social rented gradually climb back, as surely they will.

See ‘The Housing Ladder, 1950-2005’, The Economist Jan 11 2024. Online https://www.economist.com/britain/2024/01/11/the-housing-ladder-1950-2005 (note paywall). No byline.

Steve Hilditch was a founder member of LHG when it formed 42 years ago, and edited Red Brick blog for 10 years, publishing a compendium book of 100 posts in 2020. He has worked as a housing professional and consultant, advising the last Labour Government, various Select Committees and many Labour Councils on housing matters. He recently carried out a detailed housing review for the new Labour Westminster Council.

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Rent to buy: the home ownership model with untapped potential?

The Levelling Up, Housing and Communities select committee is mid-way through an inquiry into shared ownership, which includes looking at the barriers to achieving full home ownership under the model and whether it is genuinely an affordable route to owning a home. Delve deeper into the terms of reference and it asks an interesting question: “are alternative schemes such as ‘Rent to Buy’ viable and do they offer more value for money?”

Rent to buy is not a new concept – the Coalition Government launched a £400m Rent to Buy scheme back in 2014 – but it has never really taken off in the way that other schemes to support first-time buyers have. From our experience on the ground, however, it feels like the tide is finally turning in favour of the tenure as more providers enter the market and an increasing number of local authorities adopt it as part of their housing mix. 

This is perhaps a result of increasing recognition that the model has the benefit of tackling two key problems at once: in the vast majority of cases it provides new affordable homes to rent, whilst also providing a realistic route to ownership.

The Government describes Rent to Buy as helping tenants to save for a deposit to buy a home by offering properties at a discounted rent, normally 20% less than market rent.

Historically, it has been seen as a ‘niche’ product and there has been limited availability of it across the country, perpetuating the lack of awareness of the offer. 

Now, with new entrants to the market, the sector is growing, but the challenge is that it is not homogenous. There are rent to buy products delivered by housing associations as part of their affordable rent provision; privately funded models that are included in local authorities’ affordable home ownership offer; and then rent to buy products that aren’t badged as affordable housing at all but are instead delivered as market homes. Muddying the waters further, the length of the rental period varies depending on the scheme – the 2014 scheme had a minimum of seven years renting, whilst the government website now states an initial rental agreement of just two. Some, like ours, offer a gifted deposit to add to renters’ savings, whereas others use the rental payments to count towards buying the property. This makes the sector hard to define in planning policy and confusing to navigate for local authorities, who are understandably wary of new providers in the market. Often, it is easier to stick to doing what they know. 

However, as the cost-of-living crisis continues to bite, it is an attractive offer for renters who are struggling to save for a deposit and meets a major need in the market. Importantly, we have seen that it can successfully turn renters into homeowners.

As Keir Starmer looks for tangible ways to deliver Labour’s commitment to becoming the party of home ownership, he would be wise to look at how he can support growth of the rent to buy sector. 

First and foremost, we know that saving for a deposit is one of the main challenges to getting on the housing ladder. In June, Zoopla found that the average deposit paid by a first-time buyer was £34,500, rising to £72,000 in the South East and over £144,000 in London.   

For those who can’t rely on the ‘bank of mum and dad’, the difficulty is that often there is very little money left to put aside after paying rent and other monthly bills. The English Housing Survey notes that half of renters – some 2 million households – don’t have any savings at all. This rises to three quarters of those in the social rented sector. 

This leads to a situation whereby the majority of first-time buyers come from the top two highest income groups, pricing out our nurses, teachers, retail and hospitality workers. This should not be the case. Workers across all income brackets should have a realistic prospect of being able to buy a home where they live. And we know that this is what they want; the aspiration to own has been constant at around 9 in 10 people for many years.   

Labour will not be able to increase levels of home ownership and social mobility unless it addresses the deposit barrier. Rent to buy models do this in a way that Shared Ownership does not, by enabling tenants to move into the home that they will one day own without having to pay a deposit upfront, and instead being given the time and support to save for this. 

The latest figures show that the average deposit for an initial equity stake under Shared Ownership was £20,800, putting it out of reach of the half of renters without savings. There is then the challenge of having to ‘staircase’ to full ownership, and the costs associated with this. Currently, comprehensive data on how many people reach full ownership and the time taken to do so does not exist, however, the House of Commons Library notes that the number of households staircasing to 100% in 2020-21 was equivalent to just 2.3% of all shared-equity homes owned by housing associations.

Homes England similarly does not collect post-sales information on grant-funded rent to buy homes; however under our model, 95% of renters have successfully become homeowners with a high street mortgage at the planned point. 

On the question of whether rent to buy offers good value for money, we and other privately funded providers have proven that it is possible to deliver affordable home ownership products entirely without grant. We are fully funded by institutional investment such as major UK pension funds, meaning that there is no cost to the public purse whatsoever. As well as bringing more funding to the sector overall, using private investment to deliver affordable home ownership products enables local authorities to direct their grant funding to deliver more social housing; a win-win. This is an avenue that the Party seems interested to pursue, as the NPF document outlines that Labour will “encourage more private investment, properly regulated, in new supply”. 

Rent to buy’s challenge is not that it is unviable, but that it has been small-scale and is not well known. With Help to Buy having ended, now is the time for it to be brought into the limelight and promoted as a major route to home ownership. Such a campaign from a future government would help boost local authority confidence and acceptance, encouraging more providers to the market and in turn increasing home ownership. 

In addition, whilst privately funded providers do not require government grant through the Affordable Homes Programme, one of the main challenges is that local authorities are often reluctant to accept providers that are not government funded due to uncertainty over their standing. A Homes England equity programme for the rent to buy market would help to provide local authorities with confidence that the models had government support and had been assessed for quality and viability.   

Following the G15 landlord Metropolitan Thames Valley Housing entering the rent to buy sector for the first time earlier this year, Inside Housing wrote: “Rent to Buy has been touted as a model that could replace shared ownership as the dominant affordable-ownership tenure.”

We believe that it can and that the Labour Party should be looking at how to make the most of its untapped potential. 

Steve Collins

Steve is the Chief Executive at Rentplus, and has worked for more than 25 years in both public & private housing and development sectors

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