THE privatisation of housing has been a complete disaster.
Completely inadequate numbers of new homes have been built in every region in England since 2002, the National Housing Federation says.
This has left 4.5 million people marooned on housing waiting lists.
This news comes a week after a report revealed that complaints against private letting agents have soared by 45 per cent, with more people being forced into private rented accommodation as a result of the freeze in council house building and the selling-off of council homes by the Thatcher governments.
This has been compounded by the banking crash of 2008, which has led to mortgage companies ending their ‘100 per cent mortgages’ and demanding large deposits from home-buyers.
As a result, most young people, even those with middle-class professional jobs, are forced to rent privately.
The National Housing Federation estimated a record 4.5 million people were on housing waiting lists and that 2.5 million people lived in overcrowded conditions.
The federation said regional planning authorities had missed targets – agreed with government agencies – in 2008-09.
It said that from 2002-03 to 2008-09, London missed its published target of 210,000 new (private) homes by 32 per cent, delivering 142,180 new homes.
In the same period, new home building in the North East was 19 per cent short of target, with 47,000 homes built, compared to a projected target of 58,350, while in the South West 123,110 homes were delivered compared to a target of 150,823.
Yorkshire and Humberside came closest to the government’s target over the last seven years, building 100,830 homes against a target of 110,100.
The East Midlands saw 108,270 homes (target 120,020) built, the South East 186,290 (target 210,300), the West Midlands 97,750 (target 113,960), the East of England 139,020 (target 163,890) and the North West 126,210 (target 151,456).
But the government has continued with the Thatcherite policy of previous Tory governments which scrapped council house building and began the privatisation of council homes.
This has led to a shortage of council housing as local authorities are encouraged to sell-off or demolish council estates altogether.
National Housing Federation chief executive David Orr attacked the government for failing to meet its target for the creation of new private housing projects.
Meanwhile, local tenants’ campaigns are demanding urgently a return to council house building and the renovation of existing council estates, to provide affordable accommodation with security of tenure for working-class, middle-class and poor people.
A Communities and Local Government spokesman said: ‘Since June, Housing Minister John Healey has given the go-ahead for £4.2 billion government investment for councils, housing associations and private developers to build over 75,000 much-needed new homes across the country.’
But none of this money is allocated for new council housing and instead it will go to projects to privatise and destroy council estates, like the regeneration projects by the Lib-Dem and Tory coalition running Southwark Council to drive tenants out of their homes on Heygate and Aylesbury estates.
The Labour government supports these regeneration schemes, despite the opposition of tenants, and those who live on these council estates are being pressured to give up their council tenancies and turn to housing associations and private letting agents.
Since the banking crash there has been a dramatic fall in the number of homes built for sale on the open market, with the numbers slumping by 49 per cent in 20080-09 compared with the previous year.
The number of ‘social housing’ projects – private homes for rent or ‘part rent part buy’ – has risen 18 per cent.
The average rent paid to a letting agent or landlord in the UK was £820 a month in March compared to £814 in February.
The privateers are demanding more state assistance to increase their share of the housing market even further in the next decade.
This crisis situation requires the building of millions of new council homes.
WRP candidates in the May 6th general election are demanding the nationalisation of the banks, the building industry and building land so that millions of workers can be provided with work at trade union rates of pay building the up to five million badly needed council homes.
