Empowering our cities will help tackle the housing crisis

In the months since Ed Miliband appointed me as Shadow Housing Minister I’ve been visiting cities across England to talk to voters, councillors, and Labour activists about Labour’s plans to tackle the housing crisis that cities face.

There is a chronic shortage of affordable homes, but the cause of that shortage varies from place to place. In some cities it is because too many houses are simply not fit for purpose, they need to be restored, or if they can’t be, replaced. Supporting regeneration, as well as boosting supply, must be priorities.

Yesterday, I was in Liverpool to see for myself the city’s ambitious plans to regenerate. Liverpool is going through a remarkable transformation with four regeneration projects underway across the city. Mayor Joe Anderson and his administration, in particular housing cabinet member Councillor Ann O’Byrne, with the full support of Liverpool’s Labour MPs, are breathing new life into parts of one of our great cities.

35% of the city’s houses were built before 1919. Many of these houses were put up so quickly that they didn’t have foundations. Many can be saved, but some of the houses that I saw were in need of being replaced. Either the lack of foundations meant that they were literally falling apart, twisting into uninhabitable contortions, or they were riddled with damp and mould.

The council is working to ensure the solutions have direct input from the communities they will serve. In Anfield, in the streets surrounding Liverpool FC’s famous ground, over 80% of the 1,700 residents surveyed approved of a new scheme for the area which will see as many of the current houses as possible saved, with many being completely renovated. Those that can’t be saved will be cleared to form open spaces for community use. This is being complemented by new homes being built on the adjacent Parks development.

In another part of Liverpool, Granby and the Welsh Streets, I met with members of a community group fighting to redevelop their area. They don’t want to see their community break up or whither away. Instead, they want the chance to stay where they grew up, but with new housing fit for the 21st century. Here the emphasis is on building more new housing.

Local engagement is crucial to ensure these projects succeed in addressing housing need, and the council is working closely with both housing associations and developers to achieve outcomes that are right for local people.

Liverpool is also consulting on introducing a citywide licensing system for private sector landlords. This will help to drive up standards in the private rented sector, complementing the council’s work on regeneration. Licensing will mean the council is better able to identify and take action against landlords at the bottom end of the market who are renting out dangerous and substandard accommodation, which can blight communities.

At a national level, Ed Miliband has made a firm promise: under the next Labour government, we will increase house building to at least 200,000 decent homes a year by 2020. We will also introduce a national register of landlords, and we will reform the law to make it easier for local authorities to introduce licensing schemes.

We have appointed Sir Michael Lyons to lead an independent housing commission with one aim: delivering a roadmap of how the next Labour government can begin addressing the housing shortage immediately on entering office.

But we know that we will not solve the housing crisis by pulling levers in Whitehall. The housing crisis in London is different from the problems people are facing in Liverpool. We can’t tackle this crisis therefore without empowering our cities. That’s why the policy review is looking at how we can help our cities to maximise their potential and deliver the homes their communities need.

Yesterday I saw the great work a Labour council is doing in Liverpool to help tackle the housing crisis. If their leadership and determination was matched by a One Nation Labour government; determined to tackle the housing crisis and to empower our cities to do even more, we would be able to meet the aspirations of the people of Liverpool and across our country.

Emma Reynolds is the MP for Wolverhampton North East and Labour’s Shadow Housing Minister

Today is “Cities Day” on LabourList in association with centre for Cities. Ahead of the General Election, Centre for Cities is asking all parties to Think Cities. To read, listen and watch contributions from some of the UK’s leading city thinkers, politicians and practitioners visit www.thinkcities.org.uk