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Morning Briefing: Labour considers seizing land for social housing
Labour is considering forcing private landowners to sell their sites to the state at a fraction of their value, The Guardian revealed last night.
In the news
The party hopes the move would dramatically reduce the cost of social housebuilding, the paper reports.
Shadow housing secretary John Healey has outlined plans for an English Sovereign Land Trust, which would have powers to buy land for a cut price.
Analysis by his team suggests it could cut the cost of building 100,000 council homes by almost £10bn.
A hectare of agricultural land worth around £20,000 can sell for up to £2m if it has residential planning permission.
But Savills warned that the plans could face legal challenges from landowners.
The story is also followed up this morning by the Daily Mirror and The Times.
Meanwhile, Channel 4 runs a fact-checker on another Labour Party policy revealed this week: the proposal to buy 8,000 homes for rough sleepers.
And the London School of Economics runs a comment piece on its website by an academic about how tenants can influence housing policy.
It comes of the back of the announcement by Claire Kober, leader of Haringey Council, that she will not run for election in May and will not try to force through the Haringey Development Vehicle.
And finally, The Guardian runs a blog by John Biggs, mayor of Tower Hamlets, about the work his council is doing to battle the housing crisis.
On social media
Figures compiled by the Local Government Association about the Right to Buy have captured the attention of some Twitter users this morning after it was discussed on Radio 4’s Today programme:
Right to buy generates a wrong to social housing provision. It is a socially regressive policy in impact terms due to lack of replacements that needs fundamental reform. #r4today
— Prof Alister Scott (@ProfAlister)Right to buy generates a wrong to social housing provision. It is a socially regressive policy in impact terms due to lack of replacements that needs fundamental reform. #r4today
— Prof Alister Scott (@ProfAlister) February 2, 2018
I’m not going to apologise for being able to turn my ‘dead money’ into my pension fund. #r4today #righttobuy I’m a single woman with a grown up child and 20 more years of working who needs to look after her future.
— Theresa (@mainlysarcastic)I’m not going to apologise for being able to turn my ‘dead money’ into my pension fund. #r4today #righttobuy I’m a single woman with a grown up child and 20 more years of working who needs to look after her future.
— Theresa (@mainlysarcastic) February 2, 2018
Stop right to buy. Subsidising house buyers is inexcusable when there are poorer people in desperate need of a home. #r4today
— Susan Grey (@SJG99)Stop right to buy. Subsidising house buyers is inexcusable when there are poorer people in desperate need of a home. #r4today
— Susan Grey (@SJG99) February 2, 2018
