EXCLUSIVE: Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg on the UK housing market

Published by Jon Land for 24dash.com in Housing

Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg talks exclusively to 24dash.com Editor Jon Land about the current state of the UK housing market, his party's ideas on how the crisis should be handled and the important role the social housing sector can play. He also shares his views on Housing Minister Caroline Flint and reveals his party's stance on the controversial Fourth Option debate.

24dash: Do you accept the view that the current pressures on the UK economy, the resulting credit crunch and the impact this is having on the housing market is out of the Government's hands?

The government bears a lot of responsibility for what’s happened in Britain. They can’t control global economics – but they can make sure we’re prepared to take the sort of economic shock that’s hit us, and they failed. They mustn’t be bullied into supporting banks which have had risky lending practices but instead supporting families facing repossessions. To prevent house prices from escalating out of control again, the Bank of England should have a mandate to take house price inflation into account when it’s setting interest rates.

24dash: What would the Liberal Democrats do to protect vulnerable homeowners?

We need clear procedures which must be followed before a home is repossessed – so that repossession is very clearly a last resort. Lenders will find that this is in their long term interests by preventing the downwards trend from worsening. They should first offer payment holidays, renegotiated terms, and financial advice. The government needs to commit to a national network of free financial advice centres with face to face services – their supposed expansion of advice announced last month was, in truth, just a reduction in a planned cut in the number of advisers. I’m also interested in looking at ways the government could enable RSLs to support struggling homeowners by buying properties threatened with repossession and keeping families in their homes.
           
24dash: What plans do the Liberal Democrats have to tackle social housing waiting lists?

I’ve been shocked by the way this government has allowed social housing waiting lists to climb from 1 million to 1.6m since they came to power. This is a supposedly progressive government that came to power promising to help deliver opportunities for the poorest families. The government has eroded the social housing safety net and there are now almost 1 million fewer social homes to rent than during the Tory recession of the early 1990s. Liberal Democrats would free local authorities to build more social homes, allow them to keep the full proceeds from right to buy sales for reinvestment in new council housing, and end the negative subsidy system in the Housing Revenue Account where council tenants’ rent can be taken away from a local authority as a negative subsidy to fund struggling areas. We don’t believe that council tenants should have a higher responsibility to fund deprived areas than other taxpayers.

24dash: Is the Government's 'green agenda' for the UK's housing stock (including setting targets for delivering carbon neutral homes) realistic?

It doesn’t go anywhere near far enough. At the moment more than 4.5 million families live in fuel poverty and residential emissions make up 15% of the UK’s carbon emissions - compared to 4.7% in Sweden. 43% of homes do not have the recommended 12 inches of loft insulation. And the rate of energy efficiency improvements is simply not fast enough at the moment. The Code for Sustainable Homes ensures that all new homes will need to have a 1 to 6 rating but they will not have to be built to any higher standard until the building regulations are up-rated slightly in 2010 and more in 2013. This process is far too slow and needs to be dramatically sped up. Climate change will not wait for us.

24dash: Are the Liberal Democrats supportive of the Government's plans for eco-towns?

This is government centralised diktat at its worst, overriding local communities and councils and making a mess of a perfectly good idea. Many of these developments have already been turned down for planning permission previously and are now being dressed up as eco towns to gain approval. On the other hand, one potential eco town - the Northstowe development in Cambridgeshire - had the support of local councils but the government ruled that it couldn’t be an eco town because it was already included in local plans. Instead of this gimmicky approach, all developments should be eco developments.

24dash: Do you think the current Housing Minister Caroline Flint is doing a good job?

The problem with the Labour government is that after a 10-year experiment of trying to deliver social justice through central micro-management, they’ve simply run out of ideas, and abandoned principles in favour of expediency. Caroline Flint struggles with this problem just as much as all the ministers in this failing government

24dash: Do the Liberal Democrats support the view that social housing tenancies should be directly linked to finding work as part of a 'contract'?

While it’s vital to get people who can work into work, social housing provides an important safety net to prevent homelessness and should not just be a bargaining tool. A settled home life is important in order to gain work, develop skills and progress in life.

24dash: Would the Liberal Democrats change current Government policy and allow direct investment in council housing (the controversial Fourth Option)?

Absolutely. We believe that we need to level the playing field between local authorities and RSLs in terms of investment because at present tenants are not faced with a real choice between remaining tenants of the council or becoming ALMO or RSL tenants. The government is prejudiced against council tenants – refusing to respect their preference, which is very strong in some communities. We don’t oppose ALMOs or RSLs, but want a level playing field so communities can have the management structure that suits them best.