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Editor’s comment


The Times They Are a-Changin’


Patrick Mooney, News Editor


With humble apologies to the great Bob Dylan for my clumsy use of his folk anthem’s title, but it perfectly sums up my thoughts on where we currently fi nd ourselves in the housing sector, as we move from one Government’s approach to solving the country’s housing problems to another’s. Labour took power in Westminster for the fi rst time in 14 years with a stonking great majority, setting the stage for a big housing shake-up, but how much change are we actually looking at? To my eyes and ears what we are experiencing is actually a massive change in emphasis and intent. T e new administration is focusing on many of the same things that occupied their predecessors, but they appear to be applying themselves with far more vigor and enthusiasm. Within days of coming into offi ce Labour did a hatchet job on the National Planning Policy Framework. T ey announced


their intention to build a very similar number of new homes as the Conservatives’ target under Michael Gove had, but they supplemented this with a raſt of planning changes which were prepared and designed during their lengthy time in opposition. T e really big change was the re-introduction of imposed targets on local authorities. With the introduction of its Renters’ Rights Bill, the new Westminster government has laid out plans to reduce the pressures


facing private renters and those who simply cannot aff ord the rents, including limiting how oſt en landlords can hike rents and by how much. But I would guess that over 90% of the new Bill is exactly the same as the Renters (Reform) Bill, which fell at the fi nal hurdle when an early general election was called by Rishi Sunak. Both featured the abolition of Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions, but Labour are going further and with greater speed. What we don’t yet know is whether Labour will be introducing rent caps to the private rented sector. And then there are other areas where Labour are simply saying that work has to be speeded up, such as the removal of dangerous cladding from high-rise residential tower blocks. One big area of change is in respect of climate change and delivering on net zero carbon emissions. Under Rishi Sunak there


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was a wholescale rollback from many Green commitments, but the new administration has quickly made moves to deliver far more investment in renewable energy and in delivering energy saving schemes to our housing, with an expectation that new housing standards will demand far higher standards of insulation, as well as tackling long standing problems like damp and mould. Interestingly there were schemes which the Conservatives were developing separately for the private and social sectors which Labour has said will apply across all tenures. So far, the new Labour government has been somewhat reticent about homeownership, and although it has presented some


ambitious plans and policies, we are yet to see how the balance by tenure will play out. However, the new Government has committed itself to publishing a long-term housing strategy, and although we haven’t seen any substantive detail on this, many in the sector welcome the commitment. It is encouraging that, with Matthew Pennycook and Angela Rayner heading up the housing brief, we are likely to see more stable political leadership on housing policy. T e annual rollover of Housing Ministers under the Conservatives had become something of a joke and prevented any long-term focus. What we do not want to see are more short-term gimmicks. Hopefully the new administration has learned the lessons from previous Governments, and we will actually see a fi t for purpose long-term housing plan that is in tune with the current and future needs of the whole country. T e make-up of housing in Britain has changed hugely in recent times. We have gone from seeing nearly a third of the


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population living in council housing, down to the present where it is less than half that fi gure. T e private-rented sector fell to as low as 11%, but then tripled in size. Home-ownership remains the aspiration of as many as 80% but has fallen from 72%, down to below 60%. In response to these changes John Perry, the CIH’s policy adviser, said: “T e new Government faces a dilemma: it wants to promote homeownership but also build more homes for social rent. T is is bound to involve choices about resources. T e CIH supports both objectives, but its priority for resources would be for more social rented homes.” T e problem with delivering that will be in fi nding the fi nancial resources to bring it about. And that brings us back to Bob Dylan and his protest song - “Come MPs and Ministers, please heed the call; Don’t stand in the doorway, don’t block up the hall; For s/he that needs decent housing won’t wait forever; T ey will soon shake your windows and rattle your walls, For the times, they are a-changin.”


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