As the Tories disguised one of their official Twitter accounts as a fact checking service during a TV debate, it seems only fair to apply the same scrutiny to the promises they’ve made about housing in their manifesto.
PLEDGE
Deliver at least another million homes in the next five years, making further progress towards the target of 300,000 new houses a year by the mid-2020s.
FACT CHECK
The eagle-eyed will have already noticed that one million homes over five years equates to 200,000 a year – a serious downgrade from the current target of 300,000. Despite new home completions being at their highest level since the 1980s, they remain wide of their 300,000 a year mark, and this pledge could be interpreted as conceding defeat.
Johnson thinks he can engineer policies which will encourage the private sector to up its delivery, however the private sector alone has been unable to deliver 240,000 homes a year since the 1930s. In fact, the only years when housebuilding exceeded 300,000 homes a year were when councils were building almost half of them.
On the bright side, the party has stated that it would overhaul the planning system and invest in modern methods of construction. While it has correctly identified one of many challenges and one of many potential solutions, these alone will not solve the housing crisis.
Clive Docwra, Managing Director of leading property and construction consultancy McBains, said: “The Tories would also be better advised to look other reasons why we’re failing on housebuilding target, so the promise to speed up the slow planning process is welcome, even if it has an element of déjà vu. We also need to free up more land to build on. For example, freeing up a small proportion of land classed as greenbelt – land that is actually scrubland, former brownfield sites, or vacant land with little value – could release substantial areas for new housing.
Joseph Daniels, founder of modular developer Project Etopia, added: “The fact that Modern Methods of Construction get a mention is no accident. Mainstream interest in MMC is established and policymakers now regard offsite construction as the lifeboat that brings a target of 300,000 new homes a year into achievable focus.”
PLEDGE
A new market in long-term fixed rate mortgages, requiring only 5% deposits, making it easier for First Time Buyers to get on the property ladder. Under a new First Home scheme, homes will be sold at a 30% discount to local first-time buyers.
FACT CHECK
The subprime crisis may seem like a distant memory but relaxing the affordability rules for mortgages is risky business and goes directly against the Bank of England’s advice. It may also not be as popular as they think – Gordan Brown had the same idea but it never took off.
The Tories’ record on delivering starter homes is also not good. Earlier this month a report from the National Audit Office found that a 2015 pledge to build 200,000 new starter homes for first time buyers had failed to produce a single property. Oh, and in the small print, they seem to be only promising 19,000 a year.
It is also disheartening that affordable homes haven’t even been mentioned by a party which claims to be serious about making homeownership realistic for everyone.
Vadim Toader, founder and CEO at Proportunity, a fintech startup offering Help to Buy-style loans, said: “Homeownership remains the aspiration of the majority of Brits and it is right the Conservatives are looking at new ways of getting people on the housing ladder but it’s vital any new proposals are in fact workable. It is difficult especially to see how either a lifetime fixed rate mortgage or 30% discount for first time buyers – effectively a right to buy on private property – would work in practice.”
Crispin Truman, Chief Executive of CPRE, the countryside charity, added: “Less positive is the lack of ambition in tackling the affordable housing crisis in rural communities, particularly the need to deliver significant numbers of social homes. We’re calling on the next government to invest £12.8 billion a year to provide genuinely affordable homes, including homes for social rent, with a fair proportion allocated for rural communities. This is the only way we can end the housing crisis once and for all.”
PLEDGE
Lifetime Rental Deposits which can be transferred from one rental property to another, making the process of moving home easier and cheaper.
FACT CHECK
The juiciest fact is that the votes of private landlords could be pivotal in deciding the outcome in over 100 constituencies, according to an analysis of data obtained by The Times from HMRC. Hence, it isn’t surprising that Mr. Johnson felt obliged to listen to their ideas.
However, his call for a ban on so-called “no fault evictions”, designed to woo younger voters, may prove more contentious to their core voters.
David Smith, Policy Director for the Residential Landlords Association, said: “We have long argued that deposits should be transferable. It will make renting cheaper and easier for tenants. It is vital though that the detail of the plans ensure that both landlords and tenants can have complete confidence in how the lifetime deposit will work.
“On the pledge by the Conservatives to end so called ‘no fault’ repossessions, we agree that the system needs to be reformed, but this needs to be done properly. Whilst any new system should protect tenants from the minority of landlords who abuse the current rights, it is important that good landlords can be confident that in circumstances such as tenant rent arrears or anti-social behaviour they can swiftly and easily regain possession of their property.
“We want to see comprehensive reform that works for both landlords and tenants. This should include setting up a dedicated housing court offering easy and inexpensive access to justice for both tenants and landlords.”
THE PLEDGE
Tackle climate change to reach net zero emissions by 2050
FACT CHECK
This is more of a reiteration of what has already been promised – with little detail about how they would actually extinguish emissions from the built environment. With no mention of new safety measure, their priorities are questionable. While we need greener homes over the next 25 years, we also need safer ones now.
Many of their pledges on safer, greener homes built in the right places seem to be at odds with their policies.
RIBA President, Alan Jones, said: “The Conservative manifesto highlights that the UK’s architecture sector is “world-leading”, but this status can only be maintained if the profession can access the right talent, and trade smoothly in the UK, and with Europe and the rest of the world.
“I welcome the recognition of the need for more high-quality, environmentally friendly homes across the country – but the Conservative Party’s continued commitment to permitted development rights is inconsistent with this. Councils and local communities are currently powerless to stop the conversion of office blocks into poor quality housing that sidesteps vital quality and sustainability standards.
“The creation of high-quality and well-designed homes and the spaces around them relies on resourced and skilled local authorities, and professional expertise from project inception to finish.
“The next government must prioritise a commitment to fire safety, mandating sprinklers in all new and converted residential buildings, enforcing the removal of dangerous Grenfell style cladding and urgently committing to a comprehensive review of building safety regulations. England’s rules lag shamefully behind those in other countries such as Wales and the USA, putting the public at risk.”
PHOTO CREDIT: Photo by Andrew Parsons/ Parsons Media
