Young people are at the sharp end of Britain’s failure to build – and it’s not just turning them against a government that’s let them down, but against democracy itself, says Reem Ibrahim
The housing crisis isn’t just unfair on young people, it’s making us feel that the political system is failing.
The Centre for Cities estimates Britain has a backlog of 4.3m “missing homes” compared to the average European country. This has resulted in house prices jumping to eight times the average salary.
So why aren’t we building?
Older generations, who already own their own homes and reflexively declare ‘not in my backyard,’ have come to dominate our politics. In more than half of constituencies in the UK, a majority of expected voters (based on historical voting trends) are over the age of 55.
This is especially the case on the right. This week, Deltapoll published data showing that the age at which a person is more likely to vote Conservative than Labour is now 71 years old. In 2019, that ‘crossover’ age was 40.
For the Tories, this a self-perpetuating cycle: young people are overwhelmingly left wing leaving Conservatives with little incentive to cater to young people, so they disregard policies that young people want (like housebuilding) and focus on policies that older people want (like ‘protecting pensions’). Hardly surprising then that so many young people remain overwhelmingly left wing.
In the past, it was generally assumed that each new generation would become more conservative as it grew older. But this is no longer the case. That’s at least partly because they are no longer able to acquire capital (like houses!), earn more, start families, and feel as though they have a stake in society. Could this change under a Labour government?
Keir Starmer has promised to reintroduce housing targets on local councils, construct a series of ‘new towns’ and liberalise rules for infrastructure and major projects. The devil will inevitably be in the detail, and it remains to be seen whether Labour’s plans will be watered down under Nimby pressure once they are in government, like previous reform proposals.
Worryingly, some of the interventions Labour are proposing could actively undermine the property market. For example, strict new affordable housing requirements could limit the amount of actual new developments coming forward. Labour would also pursue the Renters Reform Bill, including a ban on no-fault evictions. Preventing Generation Z getting chucked out of their flats sounds well intentioned enough, but making it more difficult for landlords to evict tenants would ultimately discourage them from leasing their properties, constraining supply and pushing up rents.
So, 4 July may not be a watershed moment in solving the crisis.
Far too many young people have been led to believe that ever more intervention is the answer. The housing crisis has radicalised a generation, not just against a conservative party that’s let them down, but against the entire capitalism edifice on which our freedom and prosperity rests.
Yet it is only through free markets that we can solve this problem. Competition is the surest way to make housing more affordable, improve quality and expand choice. That means removing red tape and the political chokehold of the Nimbys. A government that has the courage to do this has a chance not just to regain the confidence of young people, but to restore their faith in democracy.
Reem Ibrahim is the communications officer and Linda Whetstone scholar at the Institute of Economic Affairs