A State of Emergency in British Housing Conditions?
By Stephen Wilson, one of our reporters abroad
Housing conditions in Britain are just as problematic as they are in the States and many other countries. Despite a variety of laws and services, there are still too many homeless persons braving the elements and close to giving up hope of remedy.
On the 4th of July, the Labour Party won a landslide victory over a highly unpopular government which had been imposing drastic and draconian policies of austerity leaving worsened inequality, huge poverty as well as a broken-down prison system, medical care and education in Britain.
The situation is so critical it requires to be defined as a state of emergency calling for the implementation of very radical measures. Whether the new government of Sir Keir Starmer is bold enough to take decisive and determined action remains open to question.
The stunning defeat of the present Tory government came as no great surprise. You did not need to be psychic or a political expert to anticipate the highly unpopular Tory government would lose. For this was a government where over the past 7 years saw 5 prime-ministers, a repeated string of scandals where Tory ministers partied during the Covid-19 pandemic, and where close advisors shamelessly took illegal bets as to when the next election would take place. Those scandals, as well as the clearly callous attitude to the weakest sections of society such as the sick, disabled, the homeless and the poor largely led to the fall of the previous government.
The depth of the housing question was undoubtedly a factor behind the fall of the government. It is not an over-hysterical reaction to define the housing crisis as an emergency. For instance, according to the pressure group “Housing Action Southwark and Lambeth,” 142,490 children are homeless, London has 167,469 homeless, and 8 million people in England are living in overcrowded, unaffordable or unsuitable homes. Further, the number of those sleeping rough has soared. Despite a promise made 5 years ago to abolish “the No Fault Evictions” the government failed to do even this.
We have an unpleasant situation where 11 million renters in England live in fear of being evicted. The government failed to even abolish an old anachronistic 1824 Vagrancy Act which has long been used to persecute the homeless. Worse still, they sought to replace it with an even more draconian Criminal Justice bill!
How might the new Labour government deal with the housing question? According to public statements and the Labour manifesto, the new government intends to build 1.5 million new homes thus “Over the next parliament delivering the biggest increase in social and affordable house-building in a generation.” They would also take steps to 'overhaul' the regulation of the private rented section.
The manifesto also declares, “We will immediately abolish Section 21 'No fault' evictions, prevent private renters being exploited and discriminated against, and empower them to challenge unreasonable rent increases and take steps to raise standards, including extending 'Awaab's Law to the private sector. '
Such policies are of course, welcomed by homeless advocates. However, some critics have expressed reservations that the government could pass such legislation immediately…
They believe that passing a bill will involve a long process of debate, consultations and readings in the House of Lords. So this bill can't be passed 'immediately.'
Mathew Payne states passing such a law “would require legislation and something like the Coronavirus Act that would give them emergency powers, but it sets a dangerous precedent if a government starts doing that for routine business.”
Tim Bill, the head of residential research at the Letting Sales Agency states, “The risk for the letting market is the introduction of policies that make it to punitive to become and remain a landlord, which result in more owners selling up and higher rent.” As predicted, the Landlord lobby are complaining that such new laws are 'extreme' and even 'authoritarian'. As if charging a tenant exorbitant rent or evicting someone on the streets is not 'authoritarian!'
But there is indeed one thing Mathew Payne is sharp in pointing out. The swift passage of a new bill abolishing 'the No-Fault Evictions ' demands it be treated as 'emergency legislation.' During the past Covid crisis, the Tory government introduced emergency legislation where all the homeless were provided with special accommodation and landlords were forbidden from evicting people.
This is the type of laws we need. We need a whole package of laws to be quickly passed by special emergency legislation. The Tory government did this before during Covid. The new government could do this again under a much more ambitious plan and scale.
Would this be setting a dangerous precedent? Well, it is certainly not as dangerous as how a homeless person spends the nights on the streets where he or she is exposed to all kinds of criminals not to mention the harsh natural elements.
What is also required is a more coherent and consistent long-term housing strategy which goes beyond short-term initiatives or simply 'patch and mend ' measures. Dr Guli Francis Dehqani writes, “Housing is by its very nature a long -issue. And yet almost all measures tried have been short-term initiatives, many of which have made things worse, not better. Too many interventions are aimed at appealing to voters, or else they tackle one issue without appreciating how they might impact the rest of the housing system” {See Dr. Guli Francis-Delqani, Lead Bishop of the Church of England's article “The Church of England Has a Plan,” 29 April-05 May 2024, page 13, in “The Big Issue,” London.}
It is imperative that the present government pass emergency laws to get to real grips with the homeless problem. They should not be intimidated by the Landlord lobby or vested self-interest. They need to take the bull by the horns! Such bold steps will save lives.
We are talking also about protecting the lives of over 140,000 vulnerable children in the United Kingdom.