Policy Exchange calls for dedicated housing department

Published by 24publishing for 24dash.com in Housing and also in Central Government, Communities, Local Government

The author of a report calling for expensive social housing to be sold off to fund new affordable homes has called on the Government to set up a dedicated housing department in the September reshuffle to drive through its housebuilding reforms.

Alex Morton, senior research fellow for housing and planning at the Policy Exchange - admired in the Prime Minister's circles - says the big problem in housing is that "no-one is responsible for it".

Morton's latest paper - released this week - called for a mandatory obligation on councils and housing associations to sell off the 22% of social homes above the median value in local areas to fund up to 170,000 new homes a year.

The paper drew a lukewarm response from No 10 – but the housing minister Grant Shapps said it was “blindingly obvious” that local authorities should seek to sell properties worth “millions” in order to use their resources “more efficiently”.

Many argue that Mr Morton’s ‘Making Housing Affordable’ paper published in 2010 forms the backbone of current Conservative housing policies.

It called on the government to turn social housing into a route into home-ownership, reform allocations and, controversially, to re-take control of the housing stock. The latter was so the Government could push forward with plans to offer home-ownership directly to tenants.

The report said: "Housing associations have failed as a group to improve the poor levels of deprivation and economic inactivity among their tenants any more than local authorities. They were a worthy experiment but they have clearly failed to achieve their goals."

He also co-authored a recent report arguing for easier conversion from commercial to residential property, a policy picked up in the 2011 Budget.

Now he says that if the Prime Minister wants to boost growth, he needs to take housing seriously.

Writing in the Daily Telegraph, Mr Morton said cabinet figures such as Michael Gove and Iain Duncan Smith were pushing ahead with radical reforms in both education and welfare respectively.

He said: “The big problem in housing is that it has no one responsible for it. Housing currently sits unloved and forlorn in the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG). This Department, a Prescott style mishmash of various policies, largely exists so that town hall Sir Humphrey and central government Sir Humphrey can talk to each other. It certainly doesn’t exist to build more homes. Indeed, since housing was abolished from the title of the Department of the Environment in the 1970s housing numbers have been on a relentless downward trend.

“Government needs to show it is serious about housing. The forthcoming reshuffle is the perfect opportunity. Government needs a Secretary of State for Housing and Planning, backed to the hilt by the Prime Minister. This doesn’t need to cost anything. It could sit within DCLG’s existing building. A talented Tory MP or one of the existing DCLG Ministers should be made into the Secretary of State and told they have two years to make housing a success. After all, this was how Harold Macmillan, the Prime Minister’s idol, made his reputation.”