Liberal Democrats pledge to build 150,000 social homes a year

NHF’s response

Kate Henderson, chief executive at the National Housing Federation, welcomed the Liberal Democrat’s pledge to build 150,000 social homes a year.

She added that this would require “long-term and significant support” from government and collaboration with the social housing sector.

Ms Henderson said: “We welcome the Liberal Democrats’ pledge to deliver 150,000 social homes a year. This is a commitment which recognises the scale of the housing crisis and the central role an ambitious programme of social housebuilding must play in any government response.

“With 4.2 million people in the UK in need of a social home these homes would transform lives, as well as saving the taxpayer money, boosting jobs and bringing huge benefits to the wider economy.

“However, making these plans a reality will require long-term and significant support from government, as well as collaboration with a social housing sector that is operating in a difficult environment. The scale of the challenge must not be underestimated.

“Ahead of the next election, we are calling on all parties to grasp the urgent need for a nationally co-ordinated and fully funded long-term plan for housing.”

The Lib Dems said, if elected, the party would protect the rights of social renters by “proactively enforcing clear standards” for homes that are socially rented, including “strict time limits for repairs” and “fully recognising” tenant panels so that renters have a voice in landlord governance.

The government’s Social Housing (Regulation) Act places more emphasis on the voice of tenants. Within the act, Awaab’s Law, which has been consulted on with the sector, will introduce these ‘strict time limits’ for repairs.

Building new homes

The Liberal Democrats said they would “build the homes people desperately need, with meaningful community engagement”.

This would be by “properly funding” local planning departments to improve planning outcomes and ensuring housing is not built in areas of high flood risk without adequate mitigation, by allowing local authorities to set their own fees. Social Housing understands this refers to fees for planning applications.

The party would encourage the use of rural exception sites to expand rural housing. It would also encourage development of existing brownfield sites with financial incentives and ensure that affordable and social housing is included in these projects, the Lib Dems added.

Rural exception sites are small sites on the edge of existing rural settlements that allow land to be provided below market value for residential developments if it is used to build affordable housing for local people.

The party said it would also build the homes needed by trialling Community Land Auctions to make sure that local communities receive a “fair share of the benefits of new development in their areas and to help fund vital local services”.

The party said it would ensure all development has “appropriate infrastructure, services and amenities in place, integrating infrastructure and public service delivery into the planning process”.
 

Ending rough sleeping

The Liberal Democrats promised to end rough sleeping within the next parliament and immediately scrap what it called “the archaic Vagrancy Act”.

The party said it would “urgently” publish a cross-Whitehall plan to end all forms of homelessness.

And it pledged to provide “sufficient financial resources” for local authorities to deliver the Homelessness Reduction Act and provide accommodation for survivors of domestic abuse.

This act, which was passed in 2017, places duties on local authorities to intervene at earlier stages to prevent homelessness in their areas.

A Liberal Democrat government would introduce a “somewhere safe to stay” legal duty to ensure that everyone who is at risk of sleeping rough is provided with emergency accommodation and an assessment of their needs.

It would also exempt groups of homeless people, and those at risk of homelessness, from the Shared Accommodation Rate.

This rate limits the amount of housing support available through the benefits system for most single private renters under the age of 35. People claiming this, with some exceptions, can receive an amount to pay for a single room in a shared house with communal kitchen and bathroom facilities.

The Liberal Democrats also said they would ban no-fault evictions, make three-year tenancies the default, and create a national register of licensed landlords.

The current government had vowed to ban these Section 21 evictions under its Renters Reform Bill.

However, an amendment added to the bill delayed this by requiring the chancellor to prepare an assessment of the operation of possession proceedings for rented properties, and for that assessment to be published before Section 21 can be abolished for existing tenancies.

The Labour party is due to release its election manifesto today (13 June), while the Conversative party published its own on Tuesday (11 June).