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Whether politicians talk about it or not, voters have not forgotten the housing crisis
Housing has not grabbed the headlines in this election, but it keeps coming up on the doorstep. Politicians have missed a trick by not making it a frontline issue, writes Peter Apps
There are politicians on both sides of the Leave and Remain divide that would have liked this election to be about nothing other than Brexit.
But while the question of our departure from the European Union has grown large enough to block out everything else in Westminster, the reality in the rest of the country is different.
Over the past two weeks, Inside Housing has been travelling to constituencies to speak to voters and follow politicians as they trudge door to door pitching their wares to voters.
These campaigners hear complaints about any number of things – but one theme that comes back again and again is housing.
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This is expressed differently in different parts of the country: some residents might be unhappy with the repairs service offered by their landlord. Others might be taking issue with a new development near their home. Some may feel that the welfare system is failing them and others may be concerned about the number of rough sleepers in the area. Pick through these issues and a single common theme emerges. People from across the political spectrum want homes that are high quality, well maintained and genuinely affordable.
And yet housing issues have struggled to cut through into the mainstream political debate in this election – which has been defined at various moments by broadband, nurses, anti-Semitism and, of course, Brexit.
This is not to say that these are not important debates. But the politicians who have failed to make serious promises on housing to the electorate have missed a trick. Those who have made the promises but have failed to make them a talking point have missed one, too.
The National Housing Federation’s general election campaign has done admirable work to raise the profile of this issue, and its housing hustings – held shortly after Inside Housing went to press – will at least force the parties to address this critical issue.
This may not end up being the election when we elect the politicians who really change the game for housing. But the truth is this: Brexit will come and go, and so will the current crop of political leaders.
But voters on the doorsteps around the country will still be talking about housing at the next election and the one after that, until the current crisis is solved.
Peter Apps, deputy editor, Inside Housing
Our final issue of the year will be coming out a little later than usual, on Wednesday 18 December, to include our reporting on the result of the general election and what it means for housing. Go to insidehousing.co.uk for up-to-the-minute news on election day