The Times - UK (2020-09-15)

Music really was better in

the Sixties and Seventies

Will Hodgkinson

Page 24

for landlords to encourage best

practice.

She also suggests giving local

councils a greater say over how

housing benefit and residential

property taxes are spent in their

area, which could boost the number

of affordable homes being built.

“Political parties seeking to attract

the allegiance of the new working

class need to do more than commit

to increasing the supply of housing,”

she writes.

In the critical “red wall” seats that

switched from Labour to the

Conservatives at the last election —

and which will be the main

battleground when the country next

goes to the polls — house prices are

typically lower than in other parts of

the country, but those who rent are

under exceptional pressure.

Social housing was the second

most important issue for pro-Brexit

voters in red wall seats and for pro-

Remain voters from metropolitan

areas in a recent research study run

by Deborah Mattinson, founder of

the consultancy Britain Thinks. Only

funding for frontline public services

such as the NHS got more support.

In her new book Beyond the Red

Wall, Mattinson argues that if the

Tories want to retain the support of

former Labour voters at the next

general election, they will need to

give them “tangible proof” that their

lives and towns are improving.

“Expectations are high and

delivering Brexit will not be enough,”

she says.

Ministers could make a start this

week by extending the evictions ban.

Tory MPs are pressing for another U-turn

Conservative backbenchers want more help for private housing tenants who are falling into debt as the recession bites

to buy the property with a new “right

to shared ownership” scheme.

Housing associations are warning

that this could make it harder for

them to borrow to build more homes

because they will not have a

guaranteed rental income.

Labour is determined to make

housing a “wedge” issue with the

Tories between now and the next

election by focusing on renters as

well as property owners. In her book

The New Working Class, Claire

Ainsley, Sir Keir Starmer’s head of

policy, points out that new-build

homes are unaffordable to 83 per

cent of renting families across

England. As well as tougher

requirements on developers, she

proposes a charter for private

tenants, giving them extra

protections on stability and

affordability, and a licensing scheme

Robert Jenrick, the housing secretary,

faces calls to extend the evictions ban

children sleeping in temporary

accommodation, a rise of 88 per cent

in a decade and 3.4 million people

living in overcrowded homes. The

federation is warning that the

number of families needing social

housing will rise rapidly as a result of

the pandemic, with low earners

roughly twice as likely to lose their

jobs. One person who knows this

only too well is Cara De Loreanne,

who lives in a three-bedroom house

near Gatwick with her three children

and sick mother. She moved back

home to get away from an abusive

partner and then lost her

management job in the pandemic

and does not have enough to rent a

place of her own. At the age of 39,

she shares a room with her four-

year-old while her other two

daughters sleep in a box room.

“There’s nothing the council can do

unless my mum kicks me out,” she

said. “I’m trying to get ahead but the

system doesn’t help.”

The Conservatives remain

determined to create the “property-

owning democracy” envisaged by

Margaret Thatcher when she gave

council tenants the right to buy their

homes. Dominic Cummings, the

prime minister’s chief adviser, is

proposing a planning revolution to

increase the supply of housing, to the

consternation of Tory MPs who

accuse the government of

“concreting out, not levelling up”.

More houses are clearly needed but

a Downing Street algorithm to

produce local building targets will do

nothing to address the anxieties and

frustrations of renters who fear

losing their home. Last week the

government set out how the

£12 billion allocated for affordable

housing in the budget would be

spent. About half the homes will be

available for discounted rent but the

emphasis is on encouraging tenants

W

hile politicians are

immersed in rows

about Brexit and the

new “rule of six”

Covid restrictions,

away from Westminster many

families have a more immediate

concern about where they are going

to live. The government promised in

March that nobody who had lost

income because of the pandemic

would be forced out of their home,

but at the end of this week the ban

on evictions for renters (which was

extended by four weeks in one of the

government’s many summer

U-turns) comes to an end just as

coronavirus numbers start to rise

again.

Thousands of people are at risk of

becoming homeless. According to

the housing charity Shelter 322,000

private renters, who were not in

arrears before the pandemic, have

since fallen behind on their rent.

Many are in danger of automatic

eviction if their case goes to court.

Ministers have softened the blow by

extending the notice period for

evictions from up to three months to

six months but this does not apply to

those who were served notice to

leave before August 29. And, of

course, the “rule of six” will make it

harder for those who do lose their

home to stay with family and friends,

raising the prospect that more will be

forced on to the streets.

Labour has called for the ban on

evictions to be extended until more

financial support is offered to renters

who have fallen into arrears. Tory

MPs are also privately urging the

government to announce a further

extension. “This a disaster waiting to

happen,” says one former cabinet

minister. “They’re either going to

have do another U-turn or there will

be a shocking rise in homelessness.

My worry is that we’ve shown it’s

possible to get everyone off the

streets during the Covid crisis so if

homelessness goes up now people

will know it’s as a consequence of the

government’s actions.”

Robert Jenrick, the housing

secretary, is well aware of the

political, as well as social, problems

caused by homelessness. He has

already said that the evictions ban

will be extended in areas which have

local lockdowns and has proposed an

enforcement “truce” over Christmas.

All this means that if coronavirus

cases continue to increase around

the country, it will be hard for him to

resist extending nationwide

protections as well.

The pandemic has worsened

Britain’s housing crisis. Research by

the National Housing Federation,

published today, shows that almost

four million people are now in need

of social housing. The analysis by

Heriot-Watt University found that

1.6 million households do not have

adequate or affordable

accommodation — half a million

more than the number recorded on

the official register. Many are living

in hostels or “sofa-surfing” and some

have been on the council waiting list

for 20 years.

There are 129,380 homeless

New-build homes are

unaffordable to 83 per

cent of renting families

In critical ‘red wall’

seats renters are under

exceptional pressure

Comment

@rsylvestertimes

Rachel

Sylvester

the times | Tuesday September 15 2020 1GM 23