Prosper UK has correctly identified that if we are to make the UK truly successful and its people genuinely better off, then we must address the issue of housing supply that has plagued governments of all colours for decades. This seems pretty obvious, as does the basic tenet on our website that ‘too much regulation stifles growth’ – and a lot more besides. Previous Conservative housing secretaries recognised the need to update tenants’ rights, but it has fallen to this Government to go several steps further in its Renters’ Right Act, which comes into force at the beginning of May.
Most people won’t think of police and crime commissioners (or the mayors, and police boards that will replace us in two years) as property owners, but every physical element of policing is under the ownership of PCCs, including stations, custody suites and in Surrey’s case, police housing. Which is how I came to see for myself how a well-meaning intention to protect tenants from genuine rogue landlords is instead leading to the entirely predictable consequence of a reduction in much-needed private rented housing.
As PCC, my role in owning police houses obviously isn’t to make a profit or ensure I have an investment for my future – it is very simply to be able to provide subsidised housing for police officers and staff in the only county in which the majority of emergency workers can’t afford to live where they serve. And yet the very legislation supposedly designed to protect those most in need has resulted in landlords all over the country serving notice to tenants under the disappearing section 21 ‘no-fault’ clause. In my case, it’s because not to do so would mean that even after a police officer left the profession, had risen in rank and salary or was fired for gross misconduct, I could not evict them from the property if they didn’t want to leave. The new Act allows for evictions only in the event of ‘serious’ arrears or anti-social behaviour linked to the property. Even an officer sacked for gross misconduct could rely on the Act to stay in a property designed purely to provide for those who need it most. I lobbied successfully for an amendment to make it possible for PCCs to provide new tenants in the early years of their careers in a police force fixed contracts that allow them to stay for three years, giving them time to save up for their next home. Without this, I too would be selling all of Surrey’s police houses, depriving officers of this opportunity.
A glace at newspaper property pages reveals private landlords all over England asking what this means for them. Increasingly those who have inherited a house, or the self-employed who bought to provide an income in later life are being told that unless they own a portfolio of housing and can take the risk of a protracted court battle to regain possession of the house they own, it’s just not worth the hassle to be a landlord under the new legislation.
None of this is a surprise. When similar legislation came into effect in Wales four years ago, the National Residential Landlords Association saw the increase in landlord-led possession claims rise by 140%. So, it’s all very well for Housing Secretary Steve Reed to condemn ‘shameless landlords’ for issuing eviction notices ahead of May 1st, but property owners wanting to protect their livelihoods is not shameful – it’s a direct consequence of not understanding that overregulation (in the housing sector as elsewhere) stifles growth.
In a successful economy, where fewer people are seeking a job for life, the commitment and aspiration for home ownership isn’t for everyone at every stage. Our northern European and Nordic counterparts have long had a tradition of private rented housing and while it feels fundamentally un-British for many, there are benefits to a mixed approach. For the young who are figuring out where they want to live longer-term, those experiencing job re-location to a new area, a relationship break-up or to be closer to family for a time, a healthy rental market without excessive regulations will increase supply and keep rents affordable.
We recognise that a successful policy will benefit everyone – including those who right now feel that the housing market is working against and not for them and who are looking for a political party who will show leadership on the issue. The Conservative Party has all of the instincts to provide this – a belief in aspiration, in free markets and in the importance of taking decisions for the long-term. My own experience is a narrow one but it highlights the flaws in Labour’s policy at a time when, as my Prosper UK colleagues are rightly arguing, we need smarter solutions to housing.
This article was written by Lisa Townsend, who has supported Prosper UK since its launch and is currently the Police & Crime Commissioner for Surrey. The views expressed are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of Prosper UK.