With politics in turmoil, we must keep making the case for housing
By Hannah Fearn, freelance journalist specialising in social affairs
When I first suggested the topic of this column back in February, Westminster was in turmoil. The chances of Keir Starmer retaining the keys to Number 10 after May’s local elections were slipping by the hour.
For posterity, I then made a silly prediction on a podcast that he’d be gone after the Gorton and Denton by-election. It was obvious Labour would lose that vote, after all – but then came two eventualities that were much less predictable.
Firstly, the size of the Green triumph in Greater Manchester, which left Labour wondering how to respond. The anti-Reform vote is clearly highly motivated, which could still reward a more stable Labour. That focused some minds. Then came Trump’s Iranian onslaught, the ramifications of which are already with us domestically. Oil prices are shooting up and interest rates are expected to follow.
For once, Starmer can’t immediately be blamed for this. Perhaps more importantly, a global crisis plays to one of his few strengths. As many commentators have already observed, his delicate handling of a ludicrous military engagement with neither purpose nor endgame has been in lockstep with British public opinion, and his presence on the world stage meets with general approval too.
At the risk of saying something else naive and exposing, there will be big losses in the upcoming elections but it’s now unlikely they’ll be the end of Starmer. Less than a month ago that seemed impossible. Which is a reminder that I really was onto something when I suggested I should write about what housing can do to protect itself while politics resembles a washing machine on the spin setting.
When Labour were elected, social housing was a primary agenda item for cabinet. The deputy prime minister had a long-standing relationship and good understanding of the sector, and personal lived experience of how important social housing is. Things have changed. Not only the people, but the priorities too.
“The worst thing housing leaders can do now is assume that the argument for investment and focus has been won. It was, for a while, but the job never ends”
The personnel shift matters: new housing secretary Steve Reed signed up to the same ambitions on major housebuilding delivery but has so far placed much less emphasis on social landlords’ roles. His relationships are much closer with developers. There’s a lot of backroom lobbying going on. Reed’s focus is still on getting the new start numbers to match up to Labour’s promises, but there’s a less obvious place for social provision as part of that. The sector’s funding may have been allocated, but there’s a sense that its influence is now waning.
Worse is the distraction of global conflict, which is tearing government eyes away from the domestic job of building stronger, sustainable communities. Other budgets – defence, in particular – are now at the forefront of Westminster debate. Housing is slipping down the rankings, no longer a top five election issue for voters.
The worst thing housing leaders can do now is assume that the argument for investment and focus has been won. It was, for a while, but the job never ends. The case has to be made again, and again, and again. Every interaction with politicians and policymakers is another chance to remind them of the huge value that investment in social housing confers, of how stable and affordable housing is linked to better outcomes in every single social indicator.
Although eyes are elsewhere now, there are reasons to be hopeful. James Murray, London’s former deputy mayor for housing, is now the chancellor’s right-hand man. He may be a future chancellor himself.
I interviewed Murray in 2012, when he was an Islington councillor with a special interest in housing. The challenge today isn’t only to get Labour’s mind back on your work right now; it’s to convince the future government officials you meet that, when they finally sit at the cabinet table, they really need to have your back.
