The major political parties in England have now published their
election manifestos ahead of the General Election on 12 December.
Regarding housing policy, as in the 2017 General Election, there is
much common ground but also some significant differences.
- All promise to increase the number of new homes built, although
there are differences on the balance between private and social
housing. All commit to reducing the environmental impact of new
homes, with explicit commitments to move towards Passivhaus
standards from all but the Conservatives. All include proposals
aimed to enable longer and more secure private tenancies, including
an end to no-fault evictions, and to strengthen the rights of
social tenants. All pledge to end rough sleeping by the end of the
next Parliament.
- It is instructive to compare the pledges here with those
included in the 2017 manifestos. Many remain much the same.
However, there is a new emphasis on energy efficiency and
environmental impact more generally. All the manifestos, for
obvious reasons, either refer directly to the need to respond to
the Grenfell tragedy or include proposals clearly motivated by that
need.
- The Labour and Green manifestos include explicit commitments to
build more council homes - working towards 100,000 a year in both
cases; the Liberal Democrats instead set a target for social
housing, without differentiating between council and housing
association homes. The Conservatives, while reaffirming their
existing target of 300,000 homes a year by the mid-2020s, commit
only to support the continued supply of social housing; there is no
reference to Theresa May's previous commitment to deliver "a new
generation of council housing".
- Proposals for the Right to Buy differ sharply. Labour would
move to end it and the Liberal Democrats devolve control to local
councils, while the Conservatives pledge to continue it and
introduce further pilots of the voluntary Right to Buy for housing
association tenants.
- The parties are also divided on rent controls in the private
sector. The Conservatives do not mention them; Labour plans to cap
increases to inflation, and the Greens make a similar
proposal.
- The Conservatives plan to continue the roll-out of Universal
Credit, while doing more to ensure it works for the vulnerable. The
Liberal Democrats would reform it; Labour would scrap it, while the
Greens commit to its replacement with a Universal Basic
Income.
ARCH Policy Adviser Matthew Warburton has produced a Briefing
Paper for ARCH members, summarising the main proposals on housing
with a focus on those with implications for stock-retained
councils.
Read Matthew's Briefing Paper and links
to the party manifestos.