May’s vow to rebuild dream of owning a home
PM targets younger voters with housing pledge, but charities warn funding falls short
THERESA MAY declared she would make solving Britain’s homes crisis her “mission” yesterday but campaigners warned her £2bn pledge for new social housing was a drop in the ocean.
In an incident-marred speech, the Prime Minister made building new homes the centrepiece of her drive to “renew the British dream” for the younger voters who had backed Labour in June’s general election.
She announced extra money to fund 25,000 extra affordable homes over the next five years.
But housing charities pointed to the Government’s own figures which show 140,000 Yorkshire families are stuck on council waiting lists.
Speaking at the end of the Conservative Party conference, in Manchester, Mrs May promised to “dedicate” her premiership to fixing the “broken housing market”.
Highlighting figures which showed the proportion of 25 to 34-year-olds owning homes had fallen from 59 to 38 per cent, the Prime Minister said young people were paying the price for decades of failure to build enough houses.
“It won’t be quick or easy, but as Prime Minister I am going to make it my mission to solve this problem.
“I will take personal charge of the government’s response, and make the British Dream a reality by reigniting home ownership in Britain once again,” she said.
The extra money for affordable housing followed Chancellor Philip Hammond’s promise earlier this week to invest a further £10bn into the Government’s Help to Buy scheme.
Mrs May also fired a warning shot across the bows of Britain’s housebuilders in an apparent criticism of companies securing planning permission on land but failing to build homes.
She said: “We, the government, will make sure the land is available. We’ll make sure our young people have the skills you need.
“In return, it is time for you to do your duty to Britain and build the homes our country needs.”
Campaign groups welcomed the Government’s support for affordable housing but called for a bigger financial commitment.
Polly Neate, chief executive of the housing charity Shelter, said: “All new money is welcome, but the reality is that with over 1.2 million households on waiting lists already, this is only a fraction of the long-term investment required. It will need to be the start, rather than the end.”
Experts suggest the country needs between 50,000 and 80,000 affordable homes to be built each year.
A report published by the National Housing Federation earlier this year showed the average price of a house in Yorkshire is now seven times the average wage.
Campbell Robb, chief executive of the York-based Joseph Rowntree Foundation, said: “People on low incomes feel the crippling cost of housing acutely and getting the country building homes for low-cost rent is crucial.
“Analysis of the election result shows voters on low incomes and people who felt their household finances were getting worse were more likely to vote for Labour.
He added: “Now the Prime Minister must press on with a bolder programme to help people who are just about managing.”
Mrs May also faced called to set out housing plans which tackle the needs of rural areas.
Ross Murray, president of the Country Land and Business Association, said: “Over six million people live in our rural communities but house prices there are on average 22 per cent higher than in urban areas, fewer homes are available and in English rural areas only eight per cent of homes are classed as affordable.”
Mr Murray said the problem was forcing young families to leave rural communities.
I am going to make it my mission to solve this problem. Prime Minister Theresa May pledges to ‘reignite home ownership in Britain’.
THERESA MAY’S party conference pledge on social housing was both a statement of intent – and admission of failure – as the Tory party attempts to build firmer foundations for the future.
The tacit recognition that council house stocks became too depleted as a result of Margaret Thatcher’s ‘right to buy’ revolution in the 1980s was offset by a desire to make an additional £2bn available for affordable properties in addition to existing budgets.
Like the rest of Mrs May’s faltering premiership, the question is whether this initiative is too little and too late by a Prime Minister who is in the fight of her political life and whether it will be sufficient to earn the support of young voters in significant numbers.
At face value, this is another example of the Government following Labour’s lead. Yet the plain fact of the matter is that both major parties have failed to deliver previous promises on housing and Mrs May, at the very least, has promised to take personal ownership of this issue.
Yet it requires goodwill on the part of town halls on the availability of suitable land; the co-operation of the construction industry and, crucially, builders with the skills required to build quality homes at affordable prices.
But it goes further than this. Not only do low-cost homes need to be built at record rates to meet soaring demand amongst a generation of younger people who have been priced off the housing ladder, but the Government also needs to preside over public services that are fit for the 21st century.
For a new governing party, this would be a challenge. For a party that has been in power for seven years, and finds itself bereft of a Parliamentary majority, it’s greater still, hence the need to put its differences to one side and get on with the job. If not, Jeremy Corbyn will be preparing for a move of his own – into Downing Street.