Home ownership in England is at its lowest since the 1980s, with soaring deposits and house prices leaving many unable to get a foot on the property ladder.
The failure to build enough new homes over the past 30 years has resulted in a chronic shortage of supply, keeping prices artificially high.
Meanwhile, house price inflation ahead of wage growth has pushed property prices out of reach for the average first-time buyer, making owning a home nothing more than a distant dream for many.
So with only a few weeks until the nation goes to the polls for the 2017 election, it is no surprise that the housing crisis features high on the agenda of politicians attempting to woo voters.
We take a look at the pledges made by the major political parties in their manifestos on their plans for housing.
Conservatives
The Conservative Party has pledged to meet its commitment to deliver a million homes by the end of 2020, with a further half a million more by the end of 2022.
Its manifesto stated: “We will fix the dysfunctional housing market so that housing is more affordable and people have the security they need to plan for the future. The key to this is to build enough homes to meet demand.
“That will slow the rise in housing costs so more ordinary, working families can afford to buy a home and bring the cost of renting down.”
New fixed-term social houses will be built, which will be sold privately after 10 to 15 years with an automatic Right to Buy for tenants. The proceeds will be used to build further homes.
Local authorities will be given the opportunity to build more social housing with a new council housing deal.
The manifesto reiterated the government’s commitment to deliver proposals made in the housing white paper earlier this year.
“We will deliver the reforms proposed in our housing white paper to free up more land for new homes in the right places, speed up build-out by encouraging modern methods of construction and give councils powers to intervene where developers do not act on their planning permissions; and we will diversify who builds homes in this country,” it stated.
Greater flexibility will be given to housing associations to improve their stock and the government pledged to work with house builders to capture the increase in land value created when they build to reinvest in local infrastructure, essential services and further housing.
The manifesto pledged to modernise the home-buying process so it is more efficient and less costly as well as crack down on unfair practices in leasehold, such as escalating ground rents.
There would also be improved protections and security for “good tenants” and landlords would be encouraged to offer longer tenancies as standard.
Dan Wilson Craw, director of Generation Rent, said it was disappointing there was not more detail on the Conservatives’ policies to improve the rental market.
“Private renters have little idea how long their home is theirs for, so increasing security is a welcome development in the Tories’ housing policy. But until we know what this will entail, and who decides who a ‘good tenant’ is, voters will be left in the dark.
“The support for councils to build more homes is an important recognition of how broken the housing market is, but there is no detail of the scale and who could afford these. The plan to sell them off after 10 years seems arbitrary and unnecessary, especially if the occupants can’t afford to buy them.
“Ultimately, to bring rents down to reasonable levels, we need more supply and while the government has raised its ambitions to deliver 500,000 in 2021 and 2022, this still falls short of what the country needs.”
Labour
Labour said it will build over a million new homes, including at least 100,000 council and housing association homes a year for genuinely affordable rent or sale if it is elected.
It will establish a new Department for Housing to tackle the housing crisis and guarantee Help to Buy funding until 2027.
The manifesto also includes plans to lift restrictions that stop councils building homes and give local people buying their first home ‘first dibs’ on new homes built in their area.
The Homes and Communities Agency will be overhauled and the development on brownfield sites will be prioritised to protect the green belt and a new generation of New Towns will be built to avoid urban sprawl.
Labour has also pledged to make new three-year tenancies the norm, with an inflation cap on rent rises and legislate to ban letting agency fees for tenants.
To give tenants more security Labour plans to scrap the bedroom tax and the Conservatives’ ban on long-term council tenancies. Renters will also be able to report bad landlords if their homes are sub-standard.
Right to Buy will be suspended to protect affordable homes for local people, with councils only able sell if they can prove they have a plan to replace homes sold on a like-for-like basis.
Ruth Davison, executive director of public impact at the National Housing Federation, said: “We welcome the Labour Party’s focus on housing and its ambition to build the affordable housing the nation needs. Housing associations will be key partners with whoever forms the next government in delivering these new homes, already building around 40,000 a year.
“The Labour Party is right to recognise the links between housing, infrastructure and construction skills – and we look forward to hearing more detail on an industrial and skills strategy. Housing associations have ambitious skills and training programmes, and are keen to ensure they are used to support those most in need.”
Liberal Democrats
The Lib Dems are planning to woo back young voters to the party lost after the tuition fees debacle with a number of housing reforms to help first-time buyers.
The party said in its manifesto that it is planning to increase the house building target to 300,000 homes a year through a government commissioning programme to build homes for sale and rent.
Through its Rent to Buy pledge, young people and families looking to get on the housing ladder will be able to buy a home through their rent payments. With each monthly payment they will get an increasing stake in the property, giving them outright ownership in 30 years.
Tenants will be given first refusal to buy the home they are renting from a landlord who decides to sell during the tenancy at the market rate.
The document proposes three-year tenancies, inflation-linked rent increases and rent hike limits.
The party is also calling for a ban on developers advertising homes abroad to give British buyers a greater chance of securing a property.
The manifesto sets out plans to end the Voluntary Right to Buy pilots that sell off housing association homes to reduce pressure on social housing.
Letting agent fees will also be scrapped and a cap will be put on upfront deposits.
Terrie Alafat, Chartered Institute of Housing chief executive, said: “It’s encouraging to see the Liberal Democrats setting an ambitious target for house building and proposing to directly commission new homes. Historically we have only built anywhere near the number of homes we need when the public sector has been directly involved in building.
“But it’s not just about building more homes, it’s about building more affordable homes for people on lower incomes. We need more homes across the spectrum – for home ownership, for private and social rent, and for shared ownership – but we believe more investment is urgently needed in affordable homes to rent. So the Liberal Democrats’ commitment to help councils and housing associations build more homes is welcome.
“Matching these ambitious plans with successful delivery will require a long-term plan combined with significant investment, so we would be interested to see more detail on how these commitments would be funded.”
