Tories’ Manifesto Pledge To Build 300,000 Houses A Year Now ‘Almost Impossible’

Boris Johnson’s election pledge to build 300,000 new houses a year is in serious jeopardy in the face of labour and material shortages that are causing major disruption across the economy, industry figures have warned. A commitment to reaching the target by “the mid-2020s” was included in the last Tory manifesto as a key part of the party’s offer to increase home ownership to relieve the housing crisis. However, analysts already believe it is “almost impossible” to meet the manifesto pledge under the current conditions. Construction firms have complained of unavailable transport, a severe lack of materials and continued staff shortages among bricklayers, drivers, ground workers, joiners and plumbers. Read more on the Observer website.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/oct/10/tories-manifesto-pledge-to-build-300000-houses-a-year-now-almost-impossible

Poll Shows Housing Policies Popular But Little Faith In Delivery

Ipsos MORI research reveals few think any party will improve housing if elected. Housing policies in Tory, Labour, and Lib Dem manifestos are popular – but few think any party will improve housing if elected. Confidence in Labour to deliver on housing in government is as high as 45% among past Lib Dem voters – only a little short of the 54% who are confident in their own party. But past Labour voters are particularly attracted to the range of policies – for example, more support Conservative ‘First Homes’ and ‘Help to Rent’ than Conservative and Lib Dem past voters respectively. A majority of respondents backed Labour’s programme of building social housing. Read more on 24housing.

https://www.24housing.co.uk/news/poll-shows-housing-policies-popular-but-little-faith-in-delivery/

Labour Announce £1bn ‘Moral Mission’ To End Homelessness

As part of new plans to fulfil the Labour Party’s manifesto pledge to end rough sleeping within five years, leader Jeremy Corbyn has announced major new plans. Pitched as a ‘moral mission’ to eradicate homelessness, the package includes:

·         A £600m Modern Hostels Fund for homeless accommodation with 5,000 additional bed spaces

·         £200m Hostels Transformation Fund to turn existing hostels into places where homeless people can “turn their lives around”

·         A new £100m a year scheme for emergency winter shelter, starting this winter

·         4,000 additional ‘Housing First’ homes and 4,000 new permanent ‘move-on’ homes, ring-fenced for rough sleepers moving out of hostel accommodation

Read more on 24housing.

https://www.24housing.co.uk/news/labour-announce-1bn-moral-mission-plan-to-end-homelessness/

NLA Publishes Manifesto Comparison Document

Now that the three main national parties have released their manifestos, the NLA has produced this document outlining the key promises they have each made, by theme. The Conservatives, Labour, and the Liberal Democrats have all continued to build on the information in their official manifestos with further announcements on housing policy proposals made this week. We will be keeping the news pages on each manifesto linked above updated as an when further details are released. We will also continue to update this comparison document over the next two weeks, until the election on Thursday 12 December. Download the document from the NLA website.

https://landlords.org.uk/sites/default/files/2019-11/NLA%27s%202019%20manifesto%20comparison.pdf

Why The Conservative Manifesto Is A Downgrade To Housing Ambitions

The Conservative Party’s manifesto may well mark the point at which the political arms race in promising ever higher housing numbers ended. The 300,000-homes-a-year target has not been ditched – but the wording is tricksy enough to mean it will not be regarded as a concrete manifesto pledge. While it promises continued progress against this target, it only vaguely says it will reach it by the mid-2020s, which can clearly be read to mean after the end of the next parliament in 2024. The actual pledge is for a million homes in the next parliament. Now, while a million is clearly a lot of homes those in the industry will know it equates to no more than are being built now. Read more on Housing Today.

https://www.housingtoday.co.uk/comment/why-the-conservative-manifesto-is-a-downgrade-to-housing-ambitions/5102936.article

Lib Dems Propose New Help To Rent Scheme

Rent controls and an increased investment in social housing have been proposed in the Liberal Democrat election manifesto. Overseeing a ‘substantial building programme’, plans include that of building 100,000 homes for social rent each year, helping to ensure the current demand of 300,000 homes is met. A full reform of the private rented sector is also outlined, with a focus on helping young people into the rental market by establishing a new Help to Rent scheme to provide government-backed tenancy deposit loans for all first-time renters under 30. Read more on 24housing.

https://www.24housing.co.uk/news/lib-dems-propose-new-help-to-rent-scheme-ahead-of-election/

Landlords Hit Back At National Renter Manifesto

Renters and housing justice campaigners from across England have come together to launch a national renter manifesto ahead of the General Election. In a warning that political parties would be “foolish” to ignore the renter vote – a Generation Rent report identified 47 seats in England with a higher than average private renter population and a parliamentary majority of less than 5000 votes.

Now, the Landlords Alliance have hit back – with their own manifesto. Written by Larry Sweeney, CEO of the Landlords Alliance, the manifesto calls for an alternative, positive agenda – which works for “both landlords and tenants”. Read more on 24housing.

https://www.24housing.co.uk/news/landlords-hit-back-at-national-renter-manifesto/

Rent Control The Way Forward Say Labour

The first political conference of 2017 kicked off in Brighton on 27 September, with Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn announcing that if they win the next General Election, they will introduce rent controls for the private rented sector. Rent control has been promised by Labour as far back as 2015, with their Party Manifesto claiming, "For the 11 million people who rent privately, we will legislate to make three-year tenancies the norm, with a ceiling on excessive rent rises" and later in their 2017 manifesto "Labour will make new three-year tenancies the norm, with an inflation cap on rent rises.” Read more on the ARLA website.

Lettings Fees To Be Banned

More than six months after first suggesting the idea, the government has announced plans to ban fees to lettings agents in England. A new Tenants' Fees Bill was announced in the Queen's Speech, which will stop tenants having to pay money to agents. The commitment was announced by the Conservatives in the 2016 Autumn Statement. ARLA Propertymark, which represents letting agents, said the new rules would cost 4,000 jobs. However the measure is likely to pass into law, as all the main parties had it in their election manifestos. Read more on the BBC website.

'Fit For Human Habitation' Amendment May Be Reconsidered After London Fire

A proposed amendment to the government's Housing and Planning Bill which suggests landlords are required to make homes 'fit for human habitation' may be reconsidered following the fire at Grenfell Tower. The amendment was tabled by the Labour Party last year, but was defeated by MPs following a vote of 312 to 219. The proposal was also included in Labour's manifesto for the General Election. According to a report on The London Economic website, Parliament's register of interests shows that 72 of the Conservative MPs who voted against the amendment were themselves private landlords. Read more on the Letting Agent Today website.

Looking For House And Home

You can normally get a good feel for changing political priorities by tracking how often the parties refer to particular issues over time. Search for ‘house’ and ‘home’ in the manifestos of the two main parties and in 2001 neither term got much of a look-in. Today references to both are legion. If we quite literally take the parties at their word, whoever forms the next government looks set to give housing the prominence it deserves (and that voters clearly think it should have too). The Conservatives reiterate their 2015 commitment to deliver 1 million homes by 2020 and promise a further half a million by 2022; Labour also sign up to build the magic million. Read more analysis on the Resolution Foundation website.

Conservative Manifesto Summary: Housing

·         Halve rough sleeping over the course of the next parliament and eliminate it by 2027

·         Meet 2015 commitment to deliver a million homes by the end of 2020 and half a million more by the end of 2022

·         Build better houses to match the quality of previous generations

·         Support for high-quality, high-density housing like mansion blocks, mews houses and terraced streets

·         160,000 houses built on government land

·         Maintain the existing strong protections on designated land like the Green Belt, National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty

·         Continue £2.5bn flood defence programme to protect 300,000 existing homes by 2021.

Read more on the BBC website.

All Landlords Need To Know About The Conservative Manifesto.

There are hints that incentives might be used to encourage landlords to offer longer term contracts, including;

• Fair Debt - A fair debt policy – creating a “Breathing Space” for those in serious problem debt, protection from further interest, charges and enforcement action for up to six weeks. This would be beneficial for vulnerable households who are caught in a spiral of debt.
• Equality - Equalities law will be strengthened so that private landlords who discriminate are properly investigated and prosecuted. This comes as the Government are facing possible legal action over Right to Rent.
• Energy Efficiency - A commitment to upgrading all fuel poor homes to EPC band C by 2030.

In conclusion - Tenants are now clearly seen as consumers by the Conservatives with landlords being seen as providing a service.

Read more on the NLA website.

Housing Policies Outlined In Leaked Labour Manifesto

Labour would suspend the Right to Buy until councils could demonstrate they can replace sold homes like-for-like, according to a leaked version of the party’s manifesto. News outlets, including the BBC, claim to have seen a leaked version of the party’s election manifesto ahead of its official launch next week. According to the document, which is circulating online, Labour plans to moderate its pledge to suspend the Right to Buy. The leaked manifesto says councils will be allowed to continue selling homes under the policy if they can demonstrate a plan for like-for-like replacement. Read more on Inside Housing.

Can Labour Deliver 100,000 Social Homes Annually Within Five Years?

This was the headline promise from the leaked version of Labour’s manifesto. How feasible is it? Labour seems to have stepped back from a much more ambitious target of delivering 500,000 affordable homes over a five-year parliament. The new pledge is still ambitious but appears much more realistic. It says ‘By the end of the next Parliament we will be building at least 100,000 council and housing association homes a year for rent or sale’. Let’s have a closer look at what it would require. Labour’s peak output was 61,090 in 2010/11, and the coalition managed 66,700 in 2014/15. Output fell sharply in the following year, to only 32,630, because the end of the previous financial year had been the cut-off date for the previous Affordable Homes Programme. Read more on the Red Brick blog.

Time To Drop The ‘Hated’ Ban On Housing Benefit For 18-21s

Reports suggest Ministers are looking again at controversial plans to bar 18-21s from claiming housing benefit. The current government inherited highly risky plans to prevent younger people receiving housing support under Universal Credit, with the ban due to take effect in a little over four weeks. There are many reasons why a small number of young people in challenging situations may be unable to live at home and need support from the benefit system to keep a roof over their head. Housing benefit can be a vital lifeline for those escaping violence, abuse, estrangement or bereavement.Sources admit that the current crop of Ministers and their civil servants “hate the policy” but feel unable to abandon it entirely because it is a manifesto commitment. Read more on the Shelter blog.

Barwell Hints At RTB Deal For Councils

Gavin Barwell has revealed a consultation will shortly set out options for local authorities which must sell high value council house sales in order to fund the Right to Buy policy for social housing tenants. Barwell said sales will not be required in 2017-18 and a consultation is about to be published for local authorities. He committed the department to not putting councils in “an impossible financial position” but said it was a manifesto pledge. He did admit councils “won’t like it” when they see the consultation but it was better than it could have been. Read more on 24housing.

Call For Build To Rent To Be Expanded And Include More Affordable Homes

Build to Rent development in London is over double that in the rest of the UK, with a new manifesto calling for more affordable homes to be included in such schemes. There are over 14,276 units in planning, completed or under construction in London compared to 7,112 in the rest of the country, according to the new data from the British Property Federation.  They also show that there are at least 3,404 completed units in London, compared to 240 in the rest of the UK. The organisation has published a new manifesto for the Build to Rent sector, in which it urges government to change national planning policy to stress that the appropriate affordable housing on new Build to Rent developments should be discounted market rent. Read more on the Property Wire website.

New Benefit Cap Means Workless Private Renters Now Banned From 92% of UK

A reduction in the benefit cap was a centre piece of the Tory manifesto in the run-up to May's election. Even as some other 'commitments' were downgraded the reduction in the cap from £26,000 per year to £23,000 is to be pushed through in the first year of parliament. For most claimants only housing benefit - the one part that varies according to cost - will be affected. Working people, most pensioners and many disabled people are exempt, regardless of the level of benefits they receive and ignoring the idea of affordability. This measure is targeted directly at unemployed people, the lepers of the welfare world.  This targeting of housing benefit means the cap is likely to affect claimants' homes and choice of accommodation more than any other aspect of their lives.

Read more on the Huffington Post website.

Labour Will Start Construction on 1m New Homes By 2020

Ed Miliband has upped his offer on housebuilding by saying a Labour government will “start construction on 1m new homes by 2020” – an increase on the party’s pledge last year to build 200,000 home a year by 2020. The pledge, part of a package on housing held back by Miliband from the manifesto launch until the campaign itself, was combined with a pledge first made in 2010 but apparently dumped to offer a stamp duty holiday for first-time buyers on homes worth up to £300,000. Labour polling shows that offers to build vast numbers of houses annually do not play as well with voters as specific offers to help first-time buyers. Polling also suggests rent control is a popular policy. Read more on the Guardian website.