Sean Houlston is the Founder of Conservatives in Construction, Deputy Chairman (Political) of the Congleton Conservative Association, and Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for Widnes and Halewood at the 2024 General Election.
Homes need to be built. As the UK faces persistent housing pressures, this is becoming the growing consensus across the political spectrum. Labour has made housebuilding a central pillar of their agenda, and I don’t blame them. Our nation needs more homes to tackle affordability issues and providing secure housing for future generations.
While standing firm on conservative principles, the next Conservative Party leader has a unique opportunity to hold Labour to account in plans to address our housing challenge – championing a pragmatic approach that supports Labour’s ambitions and remains true to core Conservative values.
We are in opposition, and it will take time for MPs, councillors, and members to understand what this really means. What it doesn’t mean is opposing for opposing sake. There will be many opportunities for Conservatives to hold Labour to account, appointing political allies to civil service roles, scrapping deterrents to illegal migration, dropping the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act, and accepting excessive donations, to name a few.
Access to housing is an issue that transcends party lines. A shortage of homes is not just a social problem; it has economic implications that affect the entire country. The impacts of inadequate housing are far-reaching from young families struggling to get on the property ladder to the stagnation of local economies.
Recognising this, the next Conservative leader should adopt a pragmatic approach, acknowledging that some of Labour’s ideas on housebuilding could be beneficial while fighting to ensure that these plans are implemented through a conservative lens. Some approaches that the next leader could take include:
1. Focus on home ownership: As Conservatives, we have long championed the value of home ownership, which fosters financial independence and strong communities. While Labour is pushing for more social housing and greater reliance on the state, the next Conservative leader should advocate for policies that expand opportunities for home ownership.
This could include extending shared ownership schemes, offering help-to-buy initiatives, or incentivising private developers to build affordable homes for purchase, rather than just for rent.
2. Encouraging Private Sector Involvement: We should favour market-driven solutions. The next leader should challenge Labour to meet their housebuilding goals by creating an environment where the private sector can thrive. Apart from using the term grey belt and changing a few housing targets, Angela Rayner hasn’t presented any clear proposals.
The Government should be streamlining planning regulations, offering tax incentives for developers building affordable housing, and reducing bureaucratic red tape that slows down construction. By enabling the private sector to take the lead, we can ensure that housebuilding is efficient, cost-effective, and responsive to market demands.
3. Supporting business: In addressing the housing crisis, the next Conservative leader should be making the case for supporting regional housebuilders over relying solely on large, national developers.
Regional housebuilders often have a deeper understanding of local needs and are more attuned to the character and demands of the communities they serve. By empowering these smaller businesses, the Government can stimulate local economies, create jobs, and ensure that new developments are more in harmony with regional architectural styles and environmental considerations.
4. Empowering Local Communities: A key tenet of conservatism is the belief in localism – empowering communities to make decisions that affect their lives. Labour’s top-down housing targets are the complete opposite of this, and Rishi Sunak was right to scrap them. Local Authorities rarely met them anyway.
The next Conservative leader should make the case for housebuilding efforts that are guided by the needs and wishes of local communities. This could involve devolving more planning powers to local authorities and giving residents a greater say in how their areas are developed.
5. Fiscal Responsibility: Labour’s housebuilding ambitions will likely require significant – but unnecessary – public investment from bodies such as Homes England. The next Conservative leader should task their cabinet with scrutinising every penny of taxpayer investment to ensure Labour’s plans do not lead to sector reliance on government incentives.
The next Conservative Party leader faces a critical decision in how to hold Labour to account for their work in tackling the nation’s housing pressures. By working with Labour on housebuilding while championing a conservative approach, they can help address one of the most pressing issues facing the country.
This partnership does not mean abandoning conservative principles; rather, it is an opportunity to apply those principles in a way that meets the needs of the moment. A pragmatic, collaborative approach to housebuilding – one that emphasises home ownership, private sector involvement, sustainable development, local empowerment, and fiscal responsibility – could be the key to solving the housing crisis while staying true to the values that define the Conservative Party.
Getting this right will help to win back the trust of the British people.
