The 2019 General Election has provided an opportunity to look in more depth at the plans and promises of each political party in the areas of housing and homelessness. Here are some articles which extract key elements from their manifestos on this crucial topic.

Homelessness

All major parties in this election have pledged to end rough sleeping within 5 years and to improve insecurity in the Private Rental Sector, but have differed in their plans for improving Social Housing and Local Housing Authority services.  You can find out more in this article from Homeless Link, who have worked with other charities to produce a straightforward ‘shared manifesto for ending homelessness’:

Landlords

All major parties have pledged to end Section 21 ‘No Fault’ evictions, which will have an impact upon the UK’s landlords.  This article from Simply Business looks at how the parties’ manifestos might impact upon landlords in other ways.

A report from the National Landlords Association puts a particular emphasis on proposals to end Section 21 evictions. You can read it here.

Renters

A number of organisations who work to support tenants – including Generation Rent, London Renters Union, ACORN, Tenants Union UK, Renters’ Rights London and the New Economics Foundation – are campaigning for housing to be at the top of the list of voting priorities for UK renters.

 Their Renters Manifesto outlines 12 priorities covering the themes of Security, Affordability, Justice, Conditions, Discrimination, and Housing for People Not Profit. Proposals range from a call to end ‘no fault’ Section 21 evictions through to bold ideas about renters having more control over the homes they are living in.  

Community Led Housing

Last but not least, the National CLT Network has called for Community Led Housing to be ‘at the heart of building Britain’s homes’, and have produced a helpful analysis of the manifestos of the main political parties to see how their commitments will support CLTs in addition to their general impact on housing.