Council Housing remains the key to resolving the housing crisis

A letter published in the Guardian on February 3rd

The answer to John Harris’s question (We can build great council housing still. Why don’t we?) is that the government does not consider it a priority. In his interview on ITV, Steve Read was asked, why don’t you do what the Attlee government did, build council housing? His reply was that most people have “different aspirations” today. Most want to own a home.

This takes no account of the reality. Between the aspiration and the means is an unbridgeable gulf for most without access to “the bank and mum and dad”. The more than 130,000 households in temporary accommodation and 1.3 million households on waiting lists are not going to be able to buy a home. Nor are many of those forced to live in the expensive private rented sector owing to the acute shortage of council housing. They need social rent council housing urgently. It can be bought as well as built; 44% of additional council homes in England over the last five years have been bought by councils.

Anuerin Bevan said that “the speculative builder is an unplannable instrument”. The government today is looking to the modern equivalent to resolve the housing crisis. This flies in the face of all historical experience. They build at a pace and a scale which will maximise their returns and the dividends of their shareholders.

The government’s “Social and Affordable Homes Programme” will fund 18,000 social rent homes a year; just 6% of their 300,000 target. There is in fact no funding specifically for council housing. Councils will have to compete for it with housing associations.

Before Right to Buy council housing facilitated home ownership. The reasonable rents enabled tenants to save a deposit, buy a home on the market and hand the keys back to the council for those on the waiting list.

Council housing remains the key to resolving the housing crisis. Pressure needs to be brought to bear on MPs as it was with winter fuel payments and disability benefits.

Martin Wicks

Secretary, Labour Campaign for Council Housing