Introducing.....House Proud readers' panel

With polling day just weeks away, politicians are increasingly vying for our attention. As the announcements and pledges grow in number and ambition, Inside Housing is turning to its readers to find out whether the parties are impressing voters, or leaving them quaking in their boots.

Keeping politicians on their toes each week will be our eight-strong readers’ panel, who will scrutinise each announcement for its impact on the housing sector, and reveal whether they feel sufficiently persuaded by any one party’s housing policy.

Drawn from across the sector, the members of the panel are going to be on-call throughout the election campaign to respond to decisions from the campaigners as part of our coverage of the general election, already well under way with our popular House Proud campaign. This week, we meet the panellists and discover what they think of the people who want to run the housing sector.

Piers Williamson

Chief executive, The Housing Finance Corporation

What should whoever gets into power address first in housing?
Capital investment in housing, and for housing to be higher up the political agenda rather than somewhere near the bottom.

What would you really like to see in the election manifestos?
A commitment to carbon neutrality.
I think this is sadly a low priority, when it is a big source of employment and growth.

What do you think of the main parties’ current commitment to housing?
I think housing minister John Healey has already bought the message and housing is further up the agenda. I would be surprised if Grant Shapps was the [Conservative] housing spokesperson after the election, so we have no idea what the Tories’ policies will be.

If polling day was tomorrow, who would you vote for?
I’m a quintessential floating voter.

Jo Nurse

Manager, the Simon Community

First thing tackled?
As well as dealing with entrenched rough sleepers, the government really needs to focus on people without recourse such as those from Eastern Europe. They have no access to anything at all, which leaves them stuck on the street.

Election manifesto wish?
[A] means of addressing the transition into work for homeless people moving into private accommodation. They want to get jobs, but the way their housing benefit is administered means they often can’t keep up with rent once their employment starts paying out.

Current political commitment?
I don’t think there’s a great deal of commitment to housing from any of the parties.

If you had to vote tomorrow?
I’m a traditional Labour voter: I’ve never swung across to any other parties, and I’d like to think they are grateful for my loyalty.

John Denny

Chief executive, Chester and District Housing Trust

First thing tackled?
It would be nice to have one housing minister around for long enough that we can get to know them and relate to them.

Election manifesto wish?
All parties should be looking to take forward the Total Place agenda [a local government initiative].

Current political commitment?
The past 10 years of Labour have been pretty fantastic. Even though John Healey isn’t the most charismatic of people, he does know his stuff. I think Sarah Teather’s knowledge of the housing sector is pretty shallow, and Grant Shapps is very charismatic and energetic, with some pretty good ideas.

If you had to vote tomorrow?
Not prepared to say right now, although I was very impressed with the Monster Raving Loony Party’s manifesto.

Brendan Nevin

Housing professor and regeneration expert

First thing tackled?
What we know already is that there’s a 50 per cent cut in housing expenditure that’s already been programmed, but we will need whoever gets into power to be clear about the impact of this, as we’re not getting anything from any of them at present.

Election manifesto wish?
I’d like to see their differences over affordable housing provision fleshed out a bit more, particularly for the Tories as it is not clear how their plans for local delivery will actually work.

Current political commitment?
I’m impressed by absolutely no one. It is very uninspiring.

If you had to vote tomorrow?
Although I am very happy with Labour’s housing record, in general , I am not impressed by any of the main parties, and so don’t really want to give any of them my vote.

Paddy Gray

Housing professor, University of Ulster

First thing tackled?
At the moment, the housing system is dysfunctional: the next government should set up some sort of housing task force to look at the system as a whole before anything else.

Election manifesto wish?
They should use empty homes as a way to address housing need, and one of the things they could do would be to encourage bringing empty homes back into use by lowering VAT on improvements.

Current political commitment?
There seems to be very little commitment. There have been plenty of policies, the consequences of which are not always thought through.

If you had to vote tomorrow?
As a Northern Ireland voter, I will be voting for different parties, and I’d prefer not to say.

John Craggs

Deputy chief executive, Gentoo

First thing tackled?
There isn’t really a vision for housing in the same way as there is a vision for health and education. If you asked an ordinary person to spell out the vision for the National Health Service, they could probably do it, but for housing, all you’d get would be something about us needing to build more houses.

Election manifesto wish?
They need to stop regarding rising property prices as a positive thing: they aren’t. It prices first-time buyers out of the market. And we need to end our obsession with owner occupation. For some people it isn’t the most desirable tenure, and it isn’t the most appropriate.

Current political commitment?
Housing has moved up the political agenda over the past few years, and that’s not just because of the credit crunch. But what I am worried about is whether it will stay up the agenda after the election.

If you had to vote tomorrow?
I’ll keep my preferences to myself for the time being.

Killian Hurley

Chief executive of London affordable housing developer Mount Anvil

First thing tackled?
It’s about bringing certainty to the market so that businesses can properly plan for the future: uncertainty makes business planning extremely difficult.

Election manifesto wish?
I’m not a great believer in manifestos, but it would be useful to bring more clarity to the planning systems and generally less red tape around the whole housing sector.

Current political commitment?
I don’t see a great difference between them, really. I think Labour have missed an opportunity during their time in government to really restructure
housing and housing support. I’m impressed by the Liberal Democrats’ sensible financial policies.

If you had to vote tomorrow?
I would go for the Lib Dems.

Don Spake

Southampton Council tenant

First thing tackled?
They should stop the right to buy, because it means social housing is disappearing.
I was very disappointed when Labour got in [in 1997] that they didn’t end the right to buy. Council houses should belong to the people of a city.

Election manifesto wish?
I want to be sure that none of the parties is going to endanger tenancy for life. They should also place more emphasis on council housing again: I like being a council tenant because you can hold your councillors to account if there is a problem with your house.

Current political commitment?
All the political parties have drifted away from social housing over the past 25 years. None of them are very strong on housing policy. I feel we have more chance with Labour than we do with the Conservatives.

If you had to vote tomorrow?
Ideally, the Liberal Democrats, but I’m not so sure about the way the party is heading at the moment, so I’ll be voting Labour.

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