Manifestos: Part 5

This will be my final political manifesto discussion before the election.  It is of the LibDems, and it is the only one, if I recall correctly, that has housing as a separate chapter in its own right.  It is something that I was thinking about – how housing is always lumped in with stuff like communities, local government, or neighbourhoods or something like that.  It is like housing is not important enough on its own to merit its own consideration.  That is a little unfair, in part because we must accept that everything is tied together.  The quality, affordability, and security of our housing is tied in with the labour market, social security systems, and generalised precarity which affects different social groups or classes differently.  Nevertheless, as a housing nerd, it is disappointing, especially given the projections regarding the LibDems as well as media coverage (eg the BBC coverage of the LibDem manifesto neglected to mention housing).  Mind you, the LibDems have two pages on housing, so perhaps not that important.  And we get what I now regard is the same-old assertions about what housing policy should be about, the affordability problem, the leasehold issue.  Magically, they commit to 30,000 new social homes.  I say “magically” because this is yet again a figure plucked from thin air with no analysis of need.  There is also the commitment to end homelessness and rough sleeping (about which I have written before) and ending “the scandal of leasehold” (which will simply mean signing up to the Westminster legislation which will affect Wales anyway).  So, altogether, not well thought out and indicative, perhaps, of where the LibDems think they will be come May 8th.