The Assembly continues to debate the Bill to end the Right to Buy in Wales. Welsh Labour and Conservative AMs put the case for and against.
Delivering what we promised
The Right to Buy is a failed policy based on outdated idelology, says Rhianon Passmore.
In March of 2017 the Welsh Government announced it was introducing the Abolition of the Right to Buy and Associated Rights (Wales) Bill. In the months since there has emerged a consensus in broad support for the general principles of the Bill.
We saw in the recent General Election the high level of public support and enthusiasm for the Labour manifesto. A manifesto that contained ideas of re-shaping our economy for the many not the few.
Too many pundits have closed their ears to practical solutions that may not follow a market-based solution but for new generations of voters are simply common sense ideas. This could be taking back control of key utilities that have so badly let them down or shaping a housing policy that works for people not markets. To ordinary people they care little about the rationale behind Thatcher’s ‘revolution’, they want to know simply, is it working for me and my family?
So what is the reality of housing and social housing in Britain and Wales? Well a huge demand is out there. A demand that causes untold heartache, overcrowding and spoilt childhood for thousands of families. The Welsh Government alone seems to recognise this and is building new council houses.
It worth noting here that the Right to Buy was not Margaret Thatcher’s idea nor did it originate with her. What she did was create a dogmatic version that removed any flexibility for policy on the ground, no room for councils to act on the basis of declining stock.
Labour governments in the 1970s allowed councils to sell of stock on a very managed and sustainable basis. The Tories could not help themselves in creating the chaos they always do which has led to where we are with former Council homes in the hands of hugely wealthy foreign investors in parts of the UK where key workers desperately need them.
To those on the list and those watching, what form of dogmatic nonsense would it be to build only to sell off? As politicians we have to be controlled by practicalities.
In his statement introducing the Bill Carl Sargeant stated that ‘our supply of social housing is under considerable pressure. Between 1st April 1981 and 31st March 2016 139,100 local authority and housing association homes – that is 45 per cent of the 1981 social housing stock were sold under the right to buy and right to acquire.’ These houses were not replaced.
What sort of dogmatic Government would see this and do nothing based on an outdated ideology of the housing market that has been so exposed as having failed? Not just for social housing, we all saw the tragedy in Kensington a borough that cannot provide its residents with housing but continues to allow whole blocks to be built as investment properties. These empty blocks symbolise where we have gone wrong with housing.
The Tories talk about the importance of family and home but cynically refuse to answer any practical questions. Waxing lyrical about a supposed panacea in the 80s while failing to talk about now.
How can Welsh families trust a party that would build no council houses, sell off the few we have left and most cynically use housing at a local level as a political football?
You would do well to find a substantial planning application anywhere in Wales that local Tories haven’t opposed, on the hope it will win them a few votes. Perhaps David Melding AM for a huge region, would like to point to one he has supported? Particularly perhaps a mixed application that contains social housing.
Tory politicians talking about more houses in general but never supporting a single application is sadly a scenario the readership of this journal will be all too familiar with.
Finally I would talk of the importance I place in delivering on promises made. 2016 saw a Welsh Labour Government returned by the people of Wales. We stood on the abolition of the Right to Buy in our manifesto and we must now deliver.
Rhianon Passmore is Welsh Labour AM for Islwyn
We need new ambition
Abolition of the Right to Buy is a distraction from the real issue of building more homes, says David Melding.
Successive Governments have failed to tackle the housing needs that have been apparent for a generation. An increasing requirement for social housing, under-investment since devolution, the post-2008 economic shock, and just a sheer lack of ambition amongst the Welsh Government, have all led to an overall reduction in house building.
Instead of addressing housing needs though a whole-market solution based on home ownership and boosting house-building rates for private and social renting, the Welsh Government has decided to chase the mirage of abolishing the Right to Buy. The focus should be on house building instead.
The general shortage of homes has been a problem since at least 2004, when successive Welsh Governments were warned of the increase in housing need. Those on waiting lists in Wales have been estimated at 90,000. That’s the same figure today as was reported in 2011. Furthermore, it has been estimated that 8,000 families in Wales have been on an affordable housing waiting list since before the 2011 elections, and a further 2,000 have been on the waiting list since before the 2007 elections.
In the private sector, the goal of home ownership is effectively beyond many couples – even those who are on reasonably good incomes – unless they have access to other resources. The crisis is exacerbated by the fact that the average house price in Wales is now 5.8 times the average Welsh salary, partly because we simply do not build enough homes, and prices rise exorbitantly as a consequence.
We need a more realistic estimate of housing need. And here, I do commend the Welsh Government for commissioning an apposite report, Future Need and Demand for Housing in Wales, by the late Professor Holmans. That report, in its ‘alternative projection’, estimated that Wales needs up to 240,000 new housing units between 2011 and 2031, or 12,000 new units annually. This 12,000 figure is nearly double the number we built in 2015-16. So, we’re barely constructing 50 per cent of the new homes that we really need to see if we are going to improve our housing position. But this projection has been rejected by the Welsh Government and I do think we need to know why.
If the alternative projection is a more accurate estimate of need and assuming the Welsh Government succeeds in meeting its own targets (it has failed so far), there will be a shortfall of some 66,000 homes in Wales by 2031. I do think this is shocking. Previous generations would be absolutely amazed by this complacency.
After the Second World War, in the great reforming Labour Government, health and housing were seen as the central social objectives. I think it’s time for us now to stop deliberating over fruitless proposals such as the abolition of the Right to Buy and to state that the alternative projection has to be our basis for calculating housing need.
Of course, more houses need more land. It is important that we identify and make land available for development. The UK Government has pledged to introduce brownfield registers as part of its own housing strategy and has committed to backing this policy by promising significant funding for brownfield development. By comparison, the Welsh Government has taken a very weak stance on this aspect of housing policy. Its guidance merely says that brownfield sites should, wherever possible, be used in preference.
While – as a Welsh Conservative – I naturally regret the Welsh Government’s decision to focus on abolishing the Right to Buy, there are some aspects which need to be marked for particular disapproval. The cabinet secretary has said that he does not oppose the Right to Buy in principle (a wise statement given the policy’s popularity) but has not included a sunset clause in the Bill.
Most egregiously, those living in local authorities where the Right to Buy has been suspended will not benefit from the one-year notice period should the Bill become law. These unfortunate tenants will see their suspended rights permanently abolished without any recourse.
To conclude, we need new ambition. Housing is a basic need, and it’s vital for our health, and the development rights of children in particular. The proposed abolition of the Right to Buy is a distraction from the wider problem.
By increasing vocational skills in the construction sector, we can create the conditions for a major expansion in house building. We should be aiming for a house building rate of at least 12,000 new units a year, and, in some years, when capacity allows, that target should be 15,000 houses to make up for the wasted years. Our aim should be simple and ambitious: homes for all.
David Melding is Welsh Conservative AM for South Wales Central