Tackling the nation’s housing crisis was, as last year, a central theme of the Labour Party annual conference this September. The Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Deputy Prime Minister and housing secretary Angela Rayner gave housing a strong showing in their conference speeches, both reiterating many of Labour’s manifesto commitments, including the central pledge to build 1.5 million new homes in the first term.
However, it was at the fringe events where the details of future housing policy were really under the microscope. The Nationwide Foundation worked with the New Statesman to host a panel discussion featuring the new Minister for Housing and Planning, Matthew Pennycook MP, together with Meg Hillier MP (Hackney South), Satvir Kaur MP (Southhampton Test), Chair of Clarion Housing David Orr, and our CEO Kate Markey.
At a packed-out fringe event, the launchpad for the conversation was Homes for All, a partnership between the Church of England and the Nationwide Foundation which calls for the government to design its housing strategy with a clear long-term vision in mind. As Kate Markey said, “No modern government has truly articulated a vision and a strategy of what housing is for… The Government needs to determine what a well-functioning housing system looks like, and then develop the policies to take us there. If it doesn’t, siloed policies with unintended consequences will persist, and people will continue not to be able to access the decent and affordable homes they need”.
Reassuringly, the housing minister talked about housing as a system and how we need to change every aspect of it. He described the housing crisis as “acute and entrenched” and said, “Everything must be done to transform the system”. He stated that he will soon set out a long-term housing strategy with the end point they want to see, “which is very simply a decent, safe, affordable home for everyone in the country”.
The panel agreed that housing is linked to every part of our lives and that fixing the housing crisis could also help tackle other social issues like educational under-attainment, economic immobility and childhood poverty. The panel also discussed issues with the prevailing – and damaging – narrative that housing is merely a commodity or investment. A decent, affordable home is the foundation of a flourishing life. Satvir Kaur MP stated that “a decent, safe, affordable home is intrinsically linked to better life outcomes”.
Recent data shows that around 14% of people are living in households that fall below the Decent Homes Standard and that those experiencing poor housing conditions often struggle with physical and mental health challenges and suffer worse education and employment opportunities. The housing crisis loads costs onto our economy and society – as well as producing the obvious human costs, as Meg Hillier MP raised.
Investing in good housing is good value for money. But many of the benefits will only be reaped if homes are built of the right type and in the right places. The government’s 1.5m target is hugely welcome, but the homes built need to be high-quality – as David Orr argued, “it is absolutely a waste of money to build rubbish”.
The Housing and Planning Minister Matthew Pennycook MP closed by encouraging those in the room to keep pushing the government to go further and faster. The Nationwide Foundation is committed to supporting and challenging the Government’s efforts to make housing central to its growth agenda for communities and the economy.
Our event partner, the New Statesman, has also published an article on the event. You can read their full summary on their website, alongside the full discussion, here.