You are viewing 1 of your 1 free articles
A major Shelter commission report this week called for radical action to tackle the housing crisis. Commissioner and economist Miatta Fahnbulleh argues that the proposals could also help to unite the country in a positive vision for the future
Rarely has a year started with so much uncertainty about what the future holds.
It’s not only Brexit. Almost everywhere you look, global norms are being turned on their head.
But amid all this uncertainty, one thing has become clear through my work on an independent, cross-party commission for housing charity Shelter: our housing crisis will only get worse unless there’s a fundamental and historic shift in our approach to housing.
Having spent a year gathering evidence and speaking to tens of thousands of people, my fellow commissioners and I have reached a consensus on how to tackle this country’s housing emergency. We have made an ambitious call to deliver 3.1 million new social homes over the next 20 years.
If we can once again tap into and embrace the kind of optimism that powered post-war politics and built a generation of social homes, I believe we can unite the country in a positive and far-reaching vision for the future.
But if we carry on as we are, the research carried out for our commission suggests that within the next 20 years, there will be more than a million more young families trapped in private renting.
An increasing number of children will be brought up in homes with high private rents and without the certainty that they’ll be able to stay from one birthday to the next.
And it isn’t only younger people who will get priced out and struggle to find a stable home.
The housing crisis will increasingly hit older people, too.
“No one wants to live under the constant threat of being forced to move because the landlord suddenly decides to sell or jack up the rent”
By 2040, as many as one in three 60-year-olds could be renting from a private landlord. If you’ve been working hard all your life, you want to be confident that when you reach retirement you will have a place to live where you can feel comfortable and secure.
No one wants to live under the constant threat of being forced to move because the landlord suddenly decides to sell or jack up the rent, or in one of the more than 600,000 private rented properties plagued by hazards and poor conditions.
And you don’t want to put up with the everyday gripes familiar to today’s private renters, such as constantly chasing to get a simple repair done, living in a flat share with people you don’t know, or being forced to beg permission to put a few family snaps on the wall.
For some people, the consequences of inaction will be worse still.
It is impossible to avoid the serious and growing problem of homelessness in this country, both on our streets and in the huge number of families forced to live in temporary accommodation.
“In the decades after World War II, governments of left and right learned how to house the nation well by building thousands upon thousands of social homes”
Almost 280,000 people are homeless in England today, more than the entire population of Hull. Evidence submitted to our commission indicates that, without action, hundreds of thousands more could become homeless over the next two decades. This is staggering and utterly unacceptable.
Many of them will end up languishing in temporary accommodation such as hostels and B&Bs for weeks, if not years, on end. For others, tackling the crisis will be a matter of life and death. More than 500 men and women sleeping rough on our streets died last year, in some of the most horrible circumstances conceivable.
This future is bleak, but we can choose a different path.
In the decades after World War II, governments of left and right learned how to house the nation well by building thousands upon thousands of social homes – decent council and housing association properties with rents that people could afford. Over three and a half decades, these governments built 4.4 million social homes – an average of 126,000 a year.
It’s a lesson that we’ve collectively forgotten. For the past 40 years, the number of new social homes has slowed to a trickle. Last year it was just over 6,000.
“We can tackle homelessness for good”
Now is the time to re-learn the lessons of our post-war past. Through a bold programme of social housebuilding we have a vital opportunity to invest in our future. With support crossing political and Brexit divides, this shared mission to tackle the housing crisis could unite the country.
A huge expansion in public housing means we can deliver decent, affordable homes for families who are just starting out in life, right through to those in old age. We can tackle homelessness for good.
The moral case is undeniable. Analysis carried out by Capital Economics for the commission shows that the economic case for government investment is sound, too.
At the start of 2019 it’s hard to be certain of much. But on this, we know that the cost of doing nothing is too great. Let us work together to build a better future for generations to come.
Miatta Fahnbulleh, chief executive, New Economics Foundation and commissioner, Shelter social housing commission
Complaints and regulation
Tenant voice and involvement
Reforming private renting
Building more social homes