Housing: A pre-election blame game

Not in a generation has the role of the construction industry become so key to voters as they approach the general election. A recent poll suggests that nearly two fifths (38%) of the public rate housing as a top three issue alongside the economy and health. They say they would vote for any of the main parties who deliver a credible housing policy.

Despite a slight increase in first-time buyers in 2014, UK home ownership ranks in the bottom 11 in the EU, below Portugal, Ireland and Bulgaria; it peaked in 2002 at 69.7% but now stands at 64.7% the level last seen in 1988 when Mrs Thatcher was promoting the “right to buy”. In London the majority of households now rent and in the UK as a whole the homeownership gap, i.e. the difference between those who want to own but can’t, has hit 5 million.

Those who determine the shape of the built environment have an objective to design, plan, develop, build and sell property. Surely it is not for them to decide who buys them or to restrict their sales policy to those holding a UK passport

This is echoed by the announcement of a huge rally to take place in mid-March in the capital supported by 35 organisations who aim to spend over £1m making sure that housing is at the heart of the next election campaign. Those organisation supporting the march are as diverse as the National Housing Federation, Crisis, the Landlord’s Association, RIBA, the Big Issue Foundation and RTPI and they are all calling for a long-term sustainable housing programme throughout the country.

Across the whole of the UK the average home now costs seven times the average salary while in the sixties it was only 4.5 times. So for the housebuilders and construction sector I sense that a spotlight will be shone on their business models, their profits and their shareholders. This is not fair of course, building and selling houses is as legitimate and viable a commercial enterprise as manufacturing and selling cars, and no-one seems to exclusively attack the car manufacturers for global warming. However, in spite of this we are seeing an increasing number of comments from politicians and commentators who want to shoot the messenger rather than look at the message.

For years the construction industry has been complaining about planning restrictions, over-bureaucracy and lack of support for social housing. Interesting to see the chairman of Redrow reportedly hitting out at the Labour party’s “use it or lose it” policy on housing land and also the negative reaction to the Conservatives idea to ring fence 100,000 units for the under 40s announced late last year.

A classic example of this blame culture is the coverage of the selling of homes in Battersea power station. Of the first 866 apartments sold, 80% went to rich foreign buyers, so the Daily Mail trumpeted. Over 85% of all new built residential property in Central London is now being bought by foreign investors, as is 38% of re-sold ones moaned the Evening Standard. It was presented by some as an issue created by greedy developers taking away housing from the “poor and needy” of London.

Those who determine the shape of the built environment have an objective to design, plan, develop, build and sell property. Surely it is not for them to decide who buys them or to restrict their sales policy to those holding a UK passport. The large number of different organisations backing next months’ march in March should be seen as a big, red warning sign for all the political parties that scapegoating is not going to solve the housing crises - we are all in this together.

As Building Magazine’s Agenda 15 manifesto articulates, any incoming government should decide the exact target for homes and it should be included in the remit of the independent infrastructure body, and thereby progress measured against it. This should be incorporated into the responsibility of the infrastructure minister in Cabinet and he or she should seek the views of those expected to build the homes and their available resources.

In a few weeks I confidently expect hundreds of thousands of marchers will show why this is an issue that cannot be placed in the pending file and ignored. The election result may depend on it.

Richard Steer is Chairman of Gleeds Worldwide