Manifestos: Part 4

Unaccountably, I forgot to deal with the Labour manifesto.  This was a slip on my part, not some sort of political statement (which I don’t make on this blog).  I can be brief because this is not in a narrative form but a series of bullet points, first about what has been achieved and then about what will be achieved.

In terms of what is coming, there is a commitment to “end homelessness by 2034”.  I find that kind of commitment cheap and pointless, to be honest, because it seems impossible to fulfil, unless one devalues the definition of homelessness and/or creates an entirely new system of tenure.  They promise 100,000 new homes over 10 years, including a minimum of 40,ooo social homes.  there is also a focus on energy efficiency and low carbon throughout many of the bullet points.  They also plan to expand and retain help to buy and help to stay schemes.  There is also the same commitment as the others about pets in rented property.

More generally, and in common with all of the manifestoes reviewed so far, their overall housing policy is summarised as “Everyone deserves a place to call home – a warm, secure, and affordable home is fundamental to a good life”.  That is a common theme, but there is nothing I can see about affordability (beyond a rather general commitment to “Strike a fairer deal for private renters, including a guarantor scheme to enable more to people secure a rental property”); and, security is not something which appears beyond the commitment to continue “help to stay”.  I suspect that they might say that they have achieved those already  – the claim is that they have “Ensured tenants now have more rights and protections and retained help to buy beyond the English scheme.

This general point demonstrates that different parties think about these core commitments, which have been in place for some considerable time (since the inter-war period, I think), differently.  There is, in other words, a real choice to be made here about housing policy in Wales if that is your focus.  There will be a housing policy drive after May, with new legislation in store at least as regards pets in rented property.  If affordability in the PRS is your central concern, there are different possibilities offered – rent control, regulation, or retention of the existing scheme.  They are all promising more social homes, but the key is in the detail – social rent, affordable rent, or otherwise – and the numbers promised.  If security is your thing, the issue is whether to get rid of the mandatory eviction ground, but it would be worth remembering that as was said previously, that this is a kind of lodestone – it has been removed from May 1st in England, but the number of grounds for possession has increased exponentially as a result.  Removing it in Wales may have a similar effect.  There are also differences on leasehold, although that may raise devolution dilemmas about the housing/property divide.  Focusing on the numbers of new social or other homes is a little dull, partly because they appear to be plucked out of thin air as a commitment without relating to housing need (which is the way with manifestoes, I know); and partly because they will inevitably be a millstone around the winner’s (or winners’) necks especially with key issues like capacity/skills outstanding.