Tories 'Should Amend Bedroom Tax' Says Founder of Conservative Blog

The Conservative party should not impose the bedroom tax on tenants unless they turn down a suitable alternative offer of accommodation, the founder of Britain’s leading Conservative blog has said. Speaking at the CIH’s annual conference in Manchester, Tim Montgomerie, founder of Conservative Home, said the policy was designed to fulfil a legitimate aim but should be amended.

‘The [removal of] the spare room subsidy wasn’t a mistake in the sense of addressing a real problem,’ he told delegates. ‘But when you have a policy that is both unpopular and doesn’t seem to be bringing in good savings you do have to question it.’ Read more on Inside Housing.

Independent Review Is Nothing of the Sort

The government has announced an "independent" review into how more social homes can be built. But how independent is it? The review will be led by Keith House and Natalie Elphicke, wife of Charlie Elphicke, the Conservative MP for Dover. She published a controversial report with the rightwing think-tank Policy Exchange back in 2010.Her report claimed that housing associations could raise £30 billion a year – and build 100,000 new homes – by raising money directly from pension funds, saving the taxpayer £5bn by relieving government of the need to invest in social housing. Keith House, meanwhile, is the Liberal Democrat leader of Eastleigh council with a strong track record on housing but who is equally recognised for sitting on as many committees as he possibly can. A scathing piece on the Conservative Home website questioned whether councillor House had the right attitude towards civic duty effectively accusing him of lining his pockets at the public's expense. Read more on 24dash.

Help to Buy Is Immoral

Casino capitalism has its attractions, but is not a game one should encourage young families with no financial reserves to play. Yet the Government’s Help to Buy scheme is an invitation to enter the casino that is the British property market. It is more than possible that David Cameron and George Osborne will lure hard-working families of slender means into a gamble which for some will end in disaster. What happens when interest rates go up, or house prices fall, or indeed both of those things? Will borrowers who were able, thanks to the Government’s offer to guarantee 15 per cent of a loan, to obtain 95 per cent mortgages, still be able to cope? Read more on the Conservative Home website.

New Homes Bonus or No Homes Bonus?

When we first heard Whitehall’s aspirations for the New Homes Bonus (NHB) in 2010 CCN supported its initial promises around new homes and local growth. But under new proposals local government could lose money for every new home built. We can’t let the New Homes Bonus become a No Homes Bonus! Initially, the scheme came with a six year guarantee to provide investment in local services following the building of new homes. We need this resource to support the creation of the jobs and growth new communities need while maintaining local services. We therefore were shocked when Whitehall announced that a significant proportion of NHB allocation would actually be pooled into the Single Local Growth Funds, money that councils cannot access independently. One option even intends to entirely remove the allocation for county councils. Read more on the Conservative Home website.

The Reshuffle

Comments on the recent Government reshuffle from the Conservative Home blog:

Housing may be seen to have been demoted.  Mark Prisk, who has left the Government, was a fully-fledged Minister of State. By my count, the Department now has no Minister of State at all, and four Under-Secretaries: Nick Boles (Planning), Brandon Lewis (Local Government), Stephen Williams (Communities) and Kris Hopkins, who Departmental sources say will take the lead on housing.  I intend no disrespect to the latter by pointing out that the interest groups and others will inevitably see the loss of a Minister of State as a loss of status for housing itself. It is certainly an odd signal to send at a time when housing is a crucial political battleground, when Ed Miliband is fighting for its possession, and the Government is making such a push with Help to Buy.

Read more on Conservative Home.

Right to Buy Should Be Extended To All Social Tenants

The author of a controversial paper on housing has called on the right to buy to be extended to housing association tenants.  John Moss, a Conservative councillor in Waltham Forest, called on the government to end the ‘discrimination’ between council and housing association tenants.  Mr Moss called housing estates ‘slums’ and ‘barracks of the poor’ in the 2009 pamphlet Principles for social housing reform. On the subject of Right to Buy, Mr Moss said: ‘The government has done a good thing by increasing the maximum discount to market value that these tenants can secure, but there are still well over 1.2 million households to whom this choice is denied, simply because when they needed a social home, their only choice was to go to a housing association. That’s unfair and we should end this discrimination.’ Read more on the Conservative Home website.