General Election – Housing

Feb 10, 2018

Written By Jack J Collins, Editor of AllAboutLaw.co.uk

In our last breakdown of the key battlegrounds of the General Election which is due on June 8th, we take a look at the Housing pledges which have come in each of the key parties’ manifestos.

The housing crisis in Britain has been described as a catastrophe by many top economists and social commentators. So what has each party prescribed for this sickness? And are their promises sensible?

Conservatives

One million new houses by 2020
New generation of social housing
“Fixed term” council houses

The Conservatives have promised to build one million homes between 2015 and 2020 in total, and another 500,000 by 2022, although there have been questions asked as to whether this programme has really begun.

The manifesto also sets out that compulsory purchase will be reformed, which will change standards and make it easier for councils to purchase derelict land for new housing to be be built.

The Tories promise of new social housing is in the manifesto - but they have refused to put set numbers, timescales, or funding arrangements on this, and there has been murmurings that after a certain number of years they could be sold on to hedge funds or developers at a profit, and to remain unregulated.

However, the Tories have also pledged to halve rough sleeping by 2022 and 'eliminate it altogether' by 2027.

Labour

One million new homes over five years
New legal standards for rented homes
Tougher laws regarding landlords

Labour’s policies will all come under a new Department for Housing which would attempt to reverse the failures felt by the department for a number of years in history – its first job would be to build 100,000 council houses every year during a Labour government.

There is also a pledge to end the current Tory selling off of social housing to developers, and a promise of 4,000 new homes for those with a history of being rough sleepers, in an attempt to start to reverse the trend of homelessness.

Labour will also cap rent hikes at the rate of inflation, as well as pledging secure three-year tenancies. Corbyn has pledged to bring in more regulations to make sure landlords do not hold their tenants to ransom, and also that local residents will get 'first dibs' on buying new homes in their area.

Liberal Democrats

Housing investment bank
Commitment to number of new homes dependent on that
Help to rent scheme applied across UK

The Liberal Democrat policies centres around a housing investment bank which will raise money in order to build new homes – the better the bank does, the more new homes will be built in the UK.

On top of this, a help to rent scheme will provide government-backed loans to allow people the time to raise a deposit whilst in affordable housing, and 4 million homes will be insulated under the Liberal Democrats, meaning fewer costs for heating and keeping homes dry.

They also set out plans for ten new garden cities in England, which will be built using only zero-carbon homes, and Tim Farron has pledged that the council tax on second and empty homes will be double the usual rate.

Green Party

Introduce rent controls
500,000 new houses
Landlord licensing scheme

The Green Party has stated that they would introduce a full set of rent controls to make sure that those renting weren’t being conned, as well as the building of 500,000 socially-rented affordable homes.

In tandem with their rent controls scheme, the Greens would also introduce a Landlord Licensing Scheme which would help to ensure that every landlord adheres to a minimum standard of decency and quality

UKIP

Net immigration reduced to zero

UKIP believe that the housing crisis is due to the fact that the immigration numbers have reached record levels over the last few years, and they say that by reducing net immigration to zero, they will be able to address the housing crisis with far fewer resources than any of the other parties.

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