Gove appears to have woken up to the housing crisis – but his solutions are half-baked

Like a latter-day Rip Van Winkle, the housing secretary appears to have finally awoken from his slumbers to the full glare of the housing crisis and the realisation of how his party’s inaction looks set to wreak havoc with the Conservative’s chances at the next general election.

One can almost envision Michael Gove rubbing the sleep from his eyes as he stammers out the latest raft of half-baked solutions.

While a tax on foreign homebuyers will appeal to much of the Conservative heartland, the housing secretary should remember that such foreign investment has helped prevent the housing market from collapsing under the strain of building safety legislation, construction cost inflation, high interest rates, and the near collapse of housing associations’ ability to emulate their usual commitment to affordable housing.

Much of this foreign investment occurs in London which helps retain the capital’s status as a prime global metropolis and has been strongly supported by previous Conservative prime ministers.

The ever-ready call for the development of brownfield land runs hollow. 

Michael Gove laments the threat to democracy of falling home ownership, forgetting that democracy thrived when local authorities were at the forefront of the production of affordable housing for rent in the 1950s and 60s

All of the low-hanging fruit of previously developed land has been taken, meaning that the next tier of sites available have higher remediation costs because of physical or environmental constraints which impact negatively on viability, exacerbated by upgrades to the building regulations which move the needle further into the red zone of affordability.

Development at scale on brownfield land also requires complementary expansion of local physical and social infrastructure to support higher density.

Michael Gove laments the threat to democracy of falling home ownership, forgetting that democracy thrived when local authorities were at the forefront of the production of affordable housing for rent in the 1950s and 60s.

The foundation of the UK housing sector must be seen to be the social housing sector, for it is only here that society can be levelled to ensure that every family has the right to a decent home, as opposed to a right to sit on a waiting list which takes a decade or more to shift.

“The housing crisis is so severe and so complex, it needs a coordinated multivalent response which only a government can provide. This strategic lead is beyond the current administration” 

Councils can do so much more than they are doing today, but this needs dramatically increased funding so that they might attract the requisite skills in town planning, development planning, and procurement of large-scale housing programmes. A £3bn guarantees fund is insufficient.

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The housing crisis is so severe and so complex, it needs a coordinated multivalent response which only a government can provide. This strategic lead is beyond the current administration given internal wrangling and the short time available before the polling stations open once more.

But this coordination is sorely-needed and it needs to consider all possibilities to relieve the impasse on housing development.

Home ownership needs to be balanced by affordably rented homes. Other housing tenures such as shared ownership and build to rent must be part of the mix.

The conversion of offices and other non-residential uses can also play its part providing there are strict quality controls so that we avoid the mistakes of past ventures into this area of housing provision.

Brendan Kilpatrick, partner at PRP