In an ideal world housing supply would equal housing demand and everyone would be able to meet their own housing costs from their family income. What’s more, people would make provision through pension and insurance schemes (including government-backed schemes) for sickness, unemployment and retirement and other eventualities.

Our failure is not addressing the fundamental economic problems. We tinker with the systems to make the handouts affordable to taxpayers or, in times of plenty, to raise the value of benefits so people are lifted just above the poverty line.

The crisis in our society is not about how much debt we are in, whether it was a national or an international crisis, but about how equal a society we are so that each has according to their need. We need to focus our attention to making sure that we embrace the best form of welfare for those who can - work.

While there has been a growth of buy-to-let recently this is not a fundamental long-term change, but opportunistic profiteering from anticipated house price inflation.

The real problem is not the lack of ‘affordable housing’ but the obsession with owner-occupation and a shortage of land being allocated for housing through the so-called planning system. This has resulted in an over-inflated price for housing. Perhaps we should recognise the planning system for what it really is: the land price distortion system.

In the short term, we need to maximise new house building on allocated land. Perhaps part of this is to restrict building to sizes of homes (whatever the tenure) which meet only housing need and not build larger units. Further, particularly in rural areas, there is a need to prevent smaller houses being used as second homes. Perhaps there is a need for an implied planning condition for all housing (including existing housing) up to and including the average council tax band for the area that the dwelling occupier must be using the home as their only, or principal, home. This would enable homes to be reserved for people living in the area, regardless of tenure and ownership.

In the long term we need to become tenure blind about renting (and owner occupation), with people being able to have real choice of whether to rent from the private sector (including housing associations) or the public sector, with all landlords being treated equally both on regulation, funding and tenancy rights and obligations.

Fundamental market change would also get rid of the need for public subsidies for house building. However, I can’t see either the coalition government or a re-invigorated Labour Party having the courage for real reform.

Chas Townley

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