In response to COVID-19, Boris Johnson’s hard-right Brexiteers have been forced to implement stimulus packages totalling billions of pounds, in stark contrast to the previous decade of austerity. The “magic money tree” has well and truly been found, and housing policy has become a central issue in recent months, with a planning regulations bonfire looming on the agenda this summer, alongside Robert Jenrick’s ongoing Printworks scandal embodying the inherent corruption of British neoliberal politics.
With the government shouting “build, build, build” to try and kick the issue of Britain’s housing crisis into the long grass, and with targets dating as far back as 2015 as yet unfulfilled, it’s difficult not to be sceptical about the current government’s ability to deliver on these targets. Issues of poor quality, small and unaffordable properties for sale were highlighted by a government review, as well as a report by the Greater London Authority which found just 0.4% of new builds between 2013 and 2019 were deemed “affordable”, a problematic term meaning rents set at 80% of market value (hardly affordable to many in the capital). With the major economic impact of the pandemic likely to be felt when the furlough scheme draws to a close later in the year, we will see many more people in the UK abandon their ambitions of home ownership.
