House prices have never been higher, the government spends over 80 per cent of its housing budget on housing benefit, and at least one child in every London classroom is homeless. For a new generation, renting has become the norm. Keir Starmer’s mission to build 1.5 million homes by the end of this parliament is clearly intended to reverse this trend.
But focusing too deeply on the UK’s lack of affordable housing and declining home ownership obscures the duality of this crisis: it is one of quantity and quality. Britain’s housing landscape is blighted by a collection of poor-quality homes, many of which fail to meet liveable standards, as determined by the decent homes standard. Some are plagued by damp and black mould (the spores from which can lead to nasty infections), others by persistent rot or decay which eats away at the property. More besides are poorly insulated, leaking heat in the winter and pushing up energy bills. According to a recent report by the Fabian Society, around 1 million rental properties in England are in this state.
This crisis of housing quality is not just bad for renters – it is also bad for the economy. Rental properties beleaguered with damp and mould can worsen conditions such as asthma or make tenants more susceptible to persistent coughs or skin-based allergies. In making illness more likely or existing conditions worse, poor-quality housing is simultaneously slowing economic growth by keeping tenants sicker for longer.
This is poorly timed. The UK is grappling with a growing number of people who are economically inactive due to long-term sickness (around 2.8 million of them according to the latest data). Last year Starmer outlined his plans to tackle this steady rise. They included measures like overhauling the disability and benefits system and yet another independent review into what UK employers are doing to promote “health and inclusive workplaces”. The Prime Minister’s plans did not mention measures to fix the UK’s old and leaky housing stock.
Poor housing quality is not the only cause behind every one of these 2.8 million cases. But it is making many of them worse and diminishing the chances of Starmer getting more Brits back into work.
The imminent return of the Renters’ Rights Bill to parliament offers an opportunity to fix this. The bill includes a ban on no-fault evictions and the extension of the decent homes standard (which holds social landlords to account on the liveability of their housing) to the private rented sector. The Fabian Society suggests the government could go further by instituting a ban on the sale of substandard housing from landlord to landlord, halting the spread. But this measure would likely be hard to police. Instead, a well-resourced national programme of housing repair would undoubtedly prove more constructive. This could take the shape of subsidies like Boris Johnson’s green homes grant (though hopefully with more longevity) or the provision of decent financial support for landlords to incentivise home improvements.
Nevertheless, this problem is unlikely to dissipate quickly. Starmer should realise that he may be able to improve housing standards and spur productivity in one motion.
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