We do not need to build any more homes
Candidates and parties are out making promises. But when one promise directly contradicted another, Somerset Confidential® had to step in and investigate.
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We do not need to build any more homes
Top of the list of policies which will not appear in the manifestos of the three largest political parties in England will be a statement that we do not need to build any more homes.
a machismo-enriched beauty parade to tell you they are going to build more houses than the next guy
Labour, Conservatives and LibDems are engaged in a machismo-enriched beauty parade to tell you they are going to build more houses than the next guy.
Labour pledge to build 300,000 a year. The Conservatives pledge the same, though the fact that they have failed to meet that number in any of the past 14 years they have been in government, does raise eyebrows. The absolute winners in this contest though are the LibDems. Lib Dem leader Ed Davey has committed to building 380,000 homes a year.
It is almost as if the climate crisis did not exist. True, the Conservative manifesto pretty much drives a bulldozer through any idea of the concept. Green issues and the climate emergency are being swept away, hot on the heels of the Conservatives rowing back on the date for phasing out petrol engines in cars. Labour too has backtracked on some major climate pledges. As to Reform UK, the way we read their manifesto, or more to the point the actions they pledge to take within it, they don’t seem to believe there is a climate crisis.
But nothing says we don’t care about the climate emergency more loudly than committing to build 300,000 new homes a year which we do not need. And that leaves the LibDems are the biggest offenders in this space, only because their commitment to new homes is the largest.
Don’t take our word for it. A letter signed by 400 leading climate scientists to the political parties contesting the General Election states: “It is very clear that a failure to tackle climate change with sufficient urgency and scale is making the UK and the rest of the world more dangerous and insecure.”
Or if you prefer, according to the United Nations Environment Programme: “The buildings and construction sector is by far the largest emitter of greenhouse gases, accounting for a staggering 37% of global emissions. The production and use of materials such as cement, steel, and aluminium have a significant carbon footprint.”
And referring to the 300,000 a year new homes target preferred by the government, Parliament’s Environment Audit Committee reported in May 2022 that: “Construction of these homes is required to meet housing needs, but will have significant carbon impacts: firstly, in terms of the up-front embodied carbon used to construct buildings, and secondly in how the fabric and energy efficiency of these buildings affects energy use….”
300,000
So whilst this great nation of ours is getting a reputation as a world leader in committing acts of national self harm, the obsession we have developed with building 300,000 new homes a year is deeply disturbing.
Where does it come from?
The origins of the number is disputed but the most commonly accepted source is the Barker Inquiry in Housing Supply – Affordability and the Intermediate Market carried out in 2004. At the time the Inquiry estimated that 300,000 new homes a year would be needed to meet future housing needs for the population as it was then.
In a normal market, in normal times, this might perhaps make sense. But these are not normal times. There is a climate emergency and the key word here is “emergency”. Think of it like this. You are taking your driving test and the instructor slams his clipboard down on the dashboard, the pre-agreed signal for you to do an emergency stop.
Do you:
a) Bring your car to a complete halt, safely and without skidding within the minimum stopping distance for your speed?
Or
b) Gently decelerate as you travel on down the road before careering into whatever hazard you were carrying out the emergency stop to avoid?
The attitude of our three main political parties to the climate emergency is akin to answer b.
How much have we got?
They will of course tell you there is a housing crisis and the new homes are desperately needed. Only the first part of that sentence is true.