Khan Says London Election Will Be Vote On Rent Controls

The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, is launching his re-election campaign with a challenge to Boris Johnson to allow rent controls to be introduced if Khan wins another term in office. Khan said victory on 7 May would mean Johnson could no longer ignore demands for the policy as he would be “ignoring the democratic will of millions of Londoners”. Kickstarting his campaign at a housing estate in Hackney, the mayor said: “The case for rent controls is now absolutely undeniable. But Tory ministers have blocked us from introducing our plans for rent controls in London and have simply said no.” Read more on the Guardian website.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/mar/03/sadiq-khan-says-london-election-will-be-vote-on-rent-controls

Placeshapers Pitches Cabinet Role For Housing In Next Government

Placeshapers has pitched itself into election campaign calling for consistency in housing policy, funding and ministerial roles – with housing having a cabinet place in its own right. “Ideally we would want to see a cross party, evidence based approach to a national housing strategy as the benefits of investment are seen in longer timescales than the Westminster political cycle.” said Placeshapers chair Sinead Butters. Releasing a manifesto of its own, Placeshapers – representing over 100 organisations managing almost a million homes – says the next government needs to invest to tackle the housing crisis, the climate crisis and social breakdown. Read more on 24housing.

https://www.24housing.co.uk/news/placeshapers-pitches-cabinet-role-for-housing-in-next-government/

How Nottingham Labour Is Tackling The Housing Crisis

In May 2015, Nottingham Labour stood for election on five key pledges, one of which was a commitment to build 2,500 new homes that Nottingham people could afford to rent or buy. Four years later we have managed to build 2,293 new affordable homes and we have 534 more in the planning stages. Achieving this meant that Nottingham City Council embarked on the biggest new council house building program in a generation: over the last four years, we’ve built 523 new council homes. The political focus we placed on meeting this target means we have created award winning quality developments in partnership with our ALMO, Nottingham City Homes and they are now one of the top social housing builders in the UK. Read more of this article by Cllr Linda Woodings on the Labourlist website.

https://labourlist.org/2019/04/how-nottingham-labour-is-tackling-the-housing-crisis-and-wants-to-do-more/

Make Renting Better By Stabilising Rents

In the run-up to the London elections, Shelter published new research showing that over half of renters in the capital are struggling to pay the rent. And while the housing crisis is particularly acute in London, private renters across the country are struggling to make ends meet. On average they spend 43%of their household income on rent.  A growing number of people are unable to save, driven into debt or forced to cut back on essentials. Ultimately, more and more private renters are being made homeless. Some groups are arguing that we should drastically cut rents with a rent cap. But although Shelter is campaigning for rent reform, we don’t support the imposition of a hard cap like this. Read more on the Shelter blog.

UK Housing Crisis Will Not Be Solved Without All Solutions on the Table

The housing crisis in high-demand UK cities will only be solved for the long-term through a multi-pronged approach to freeing up land supply – including increasing the density of existing communities, and encouraging cities to work more collaboratively with their neighbouring authorities, a new Centre for Cities report has argued. Critically, it also highlights the importance for land both within and outside of cities to be re-evaluated on its merits, including certain green belt sites connected to local amenities and infrastructure – an essential component of tackling the crisis which has largely been designated ‘off limits’ in public debate ahead of the 2015 Election. Download the report from the Centre for Cities website.

MPs Urged To Prepare For Shift among Voters towards Renting

Politicians have been urged to take the concerns of tenants more seriously after research indicated that more than 100 MPs – including some in safe Tory seats – will represent renter-dominated constituencies in coming years. By 2021, assuming current trends continue, the number of MPs representing areas in which more people live in social housing or privately rented accommodation than own their own homes will have risen to 107 – from 65 in 2011 and 38 in 2001. Seats with high numbers of rental properties have traditionally been inner-city Labour strongholds, but the steep rise in house prices is changing the profile of middle-class areas once full of owner-occupiers. Read more on the Independent website.

Housing Holds Key to Success at Next Election

Nearly a quarter of a million jobs will be created under a Labour government by giving greater freedom to smaller firms to build homes, the party will claim this week, as Ed Miliband sets the stage for Labour's 2015 election campaign.  Emma Reynolds, the shadow Housing minister, will unveil measures to guarantee access to land for smaller firms and custom builders rather than construction giants and say that up to 230,000 jobs could be created. Her speech tomorrow (14 January) is the first of five from the Shadow Cabinet in the next few weeks on how a Labour government would tackle the cost-of-living crisis, including a set-piece address from the Labour leader on the economy later this week. With just over a year to go before polling day, Mr Miliband intends to step up the "cost of living" campaign with fresh policy ideas on education, housing and jobs. Read more on the Independent website.

Shapps Tipped For Promotion As Cameron Seeks To Relaunch Coalition

Housing Minister Grant Shapps has been tipped for promotion to David Cameron's Cabinet following the Coalition parties’ heavy losses in the mid-term elections.  The Prime Minister is expected to reshuffle his increasingly beleaguered ministerial team in a bid to draw a line under the recent barrage of negative headlines – have been reflected by results in council elections across the country.  While Shapps may not be held in high esteem by many working in the housing sector, he is increasingly seen as one of the Conservative Party's most promising MPs. He is regularly rolled out to defend the party in television interviews and is regarded as a popular and capable politician.  Read more on the Tenant Book website.

A Manifesto for Older People's Housing

The Housing and Ageing Alliance (HAA) has written a manifesto urging all political parties contesting the May 2012 elections to agree five key pledges designed to improve the lives of older people. The pledges are to:

1. deliver more and better housing options for those in later life
2. commit to great design
3. provide good advice on housing options and practical housing help
4. protect social care budgets
5. appoint an older people’s champion.

The HAA says that homes, communities and housing services should be planned and designed to enable choice, inclusion and independence in later life.  Download a copy of the manifesto from the HAA website.

Pre-Election Plea for Older People Housing Support

A group of organisations championing older people’s rights has called on politicians to improve the lives of older people ahead of local elections next month.  The Housing and Ageing Alliance, which includes members such as the National Housing Federation and Age UK, said homes, communities and housing services should be planned and designed to enable choice, inclusion and independence in later life.  It is asking all political parties campaigning in the May 2012 elections to sign up to five pledges to improve the lives of older people. These are deliver more housing options, commit to great design, provide housing advice, protect social care budgets and appoint an older people’s champion.  Read more on Inside Housing.