Coming off the back of a bruising ‘No Confidence’ vote which saw Boris Johnson’s popularity ratings plunge to new depths, Johnson hot footed it up to Red Wall country “up north” to announce his latest idea to end the housing crisis, a crisis he helped create.

In case you missed it, the idea he came up with was to help those on benefits living in Housing Association property to buy their own homes.

Really? Did he miss what happened in 2008 when banks crashed due in the main to the failure of the sub – prime mortgage market? Does he not realise that interest rates have risen to their highest level since 2009?  Inevitably this will result in mortgage payments increasing adding to the cost-of-living crisis.

There is already a massive shortage of social housing. Selling off more of the limited amount of stock in this sector will add to the housing shortage, hike up rents in both the private and social housing markets making things even more difficult for those lucky enough to have a home and those seeking to get a roof over their heads.

This ‘eureka’ moment for Johnson is not a ‘new idea’, it was Mrs Thatcher who first floated Right to Buy back in the 1980s. Back then she promised to replace the number of social homes sold with new ones on a like for like basis.

It didn’t happen back then, nor did it happen in 2010 when David Cameron tried once again to breathe some life back into flagging Right to Buy sales. Since 2010, some 29,000 homes have been sold through Right to Buy. How many replacement new homes have been built to replace them? Less than 7,000! Is it any wonder there is a housing crisis?

It’s worth noting at this point, that 40% of all Right to Buys have ended up in the hands of private landlords. This has had the effect of fuelling rent increases in the private rented sector, which in turn have led to similar rent increases in the social housing sector.

Housing has now become the biggest living cost that most households face in the UK. It has become a financial nightmare for an increasing number of families as they face the impossible choice between extortionately high rents or unaffordable housing deposits. House prices across the Black Country have increased by around 14% over the past year to March 2022. Property is rapidly becoming something only the richest in society can afford.

The gap between income growth and housing widens each year making it impossibly difficult for first-time buyers to get into the property market.

We have seen the UK Government consistently fail to reach their own home-building targets. They have also abandoned the Green Homes Grant after only six months showing a complete disregard for our environment and the need for energy-efficient homes particularly at a time of rapidly increasing heating costs.

If we are serious about environmental reform, we need to act now so that the homes we build are fit for the future. Conservatives planning reforms are not the solution to our housing crisis.

They hand over power to large developers and ignore the needs of local communities. This will not create the homes that the next generation needs.

So, what would Liberal Democrats do differently?

Everyone deserves the right to a secure and affordable home.

That’s why Liberal Democrats propose the following reforms:

• Put local authorities at the heart of new home building. This includes reforming the Land Compensation Act which would allow local authorities to buy “land banked” land from big developers at its current value instead of its predicted future value.
• A national housebuilding target of 380,000 houses per year – with at least 150,000 suitable for social rent.
• Impose a whole life net-zero carbon condition to new developments.
• Encourage all new builds to use modern construction methods and include a sustainable energy supply, electric vehicle charging points and be near green spaces. All within a 20-minute neighbourhood.

Our members have voted through plans which make housing available and affordable to everyone, not just the wealthiest.

Everyone deserves the right to a secure and affordable home. The solution is not in the hands of big developers who hold on to land rather than build the homes we need.

That’s why our plans focus on delivering what communities want and so desperately need.

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