Rob Smith is a public affairs professional specialising in property and planning, currently serving as Chair of Kingston Conservatives.
Let me give you my vision: A man’s right to work as he will, to spend what he earns, to own property, and to have the state as servant and not as master — they are the essence of a free economy. And on that freedom, all our other freedoms depend.
Margaret Thatcher, 1975, Speech to Conservative Party Conference
Once upon a time, The Conservative Party unashamedly championed opportunity, aspiration and homeownership from Thatcher’s Right to Buy or Macmillan’s 300,000 new homes a year pledge (sound familiar?). Today, this is a distant memory with many aspiring homeowners now facing rising house prices whilst average earnings continue to stagnate, putting more people further from their dream of buying a home.
But where did it all go wrong? It is no secret that The Conservative Party has struggled to win over younger voters for some time; recent opinion polling suggests that if a General Election was held tomorrow just 15% of people aged 18-25 would vote Conservative compared to Labour who are storming ahead on 60% these stats should be sending shockwaves to CCHQ. Unsurprisingly, the same polling places housing in the top three issues concerning young people. Interestingly, it was the second most important issue facing the wider UK voting population with 29% of those polled saying it was important to them, make no mistake about it, housing is firmly on the political agenda, so what are the Conservatives doing about it?
It’s worth remembering that in 2019 the party was elected on a manifesto commitment of building 300,000 new homes each year by the middle of this parliament. Sadly, in the fallout out the June 2021 Chesham and Amersham by-election this noble aim has been made way for short term nimbyism for political gain. As such, the 2020 Planning for the Future White Paper, which would have simplified the planning system and made it easier to build the new homes we need, has become a bookmark in history. If a party which at the time of writing has a working majority of 64 cannot fix one of the country’s most pressing issues, then what is the point of it?
Housing targets
During a recent Conservative Home interview the Prime Minister said that the decision to scrap mandatory housing targets came about following discussions with Conservative members, activists and councillors; he concluded “it’s clear no one wants house building targets”. As Noa Hoffman from The Sun challenged, what about the millions of people who aren’t Tory members and want to own a home one day?
The uncomfortable truth the Prime Minister faces is you cannot expect to win a general election by just appealing to your grassroots, many of whom are likely to be older homeowners. How do the Tories expect to inspire the next generation of capitalists when for too many the idea of owning any capital remains a distant dream? We have already begun to see the fallout of this disastrous decision with many local authorities pausing their local plan processes and the number of new housing permissions falling to a record low last year. Meanwhile, the House Builders Federation have warned that 77,000 fewer homes could be built each year in the areas with the greatest demand. Who knew scrapping mandatory targets would have such consequences?
We can’t out NIMBY the Lib Dems
As I touched on earlier, the Chesham and Amersham by-election which saw the Lib Dems storm to victory was a pertinent moment in the establishment’s response to the housing crisis. Panic driven Conservative MPs in marginal seats such as Chipping Barnet’s Theresa Viliers has resulted in the government scrapping housing targets and significantly watering down its flagship Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill. Whilst one can try to understand the political justification from those at the top behind these decisions, the recent local elections where we lost significant ground to the Lib Dems suggest our newfound anti-development approach may not be working.
During a recent interview, Lib Dem leader, Ed Davey said that ‘“What Liberal Democrats want is a community-led approach”. This is all well and good but having worked in the built environment for the best part of three and half years, I know those who would be inclined to support new development are far less likely to engage in the planning process, making community led approaches that do not confront this problem doomed from the get go. As Conservatives we have a responsibility to make the case for house building that ensures everyone will one day have the opportunity to own their own home. To not do so puts our long-term prosperity as a political force in Britain into jeopardy.
Are Labour the new party of homeownership?
We are now starting to see the start of Labour’s housing offer. During the recent local election campaign, Sir Keir Starmer said that he wished his party to be the party of homeownership with a number of notable announcements including reinstating housing targets, a sensible move in my view. Other announcements included a mortgage guarantee scheme and first dibs for first time buyers on new homes. There have also been some hints of planning reform.
However, given that just two years ago Labour slammed the government’s attempt at radical planning reform as a ‘developers charter’ one can’t help but ask if Starmer is strong enough to face down his critics when the going gets tough. Indeed, he wasn’t strong enough to stand up to Corbynism when he was in his shadow cabinet. When it comes to Labour’s plans for housing, the devil very much will be in the detail, but surely many young people struggling to get on the housing ladder will find themselves asking ‘Am I more likely to be able to own my own home under a Labour government? The jury will shortly retire to consider their verdict.
PricedOut is a cross-party campaign for affordable house prices. The contents of this blog do not necessarily represent the views of PricedOut and PricedOut does not endorse any candidate or party.
