Quintin Bradley, Senior Lecturer in Planning and Housing at Leeds Beckett University

Summary

Dr. Quintin Bradley discusses the crisis in affordable housing in England, emphasizing the disconnect between housing need and affordability. He critiques current housing policies, particularly the standard method for assessing housing need, which fails to address the actual scale of affordable housing demand. Bradley highlights how outdated methods, along with undercounting and miscalculations, have exacerbated the issue. He advocates for a return to prioritizing housing need over market-driven policies and suggests solutions like empowering local authorities to reserve land specifically for social housing. His talk calls for a shift towards providing adequate housing for all, starting with the most vulnerable.

Takeaways

• 😀 The focus of housing policy has shifted from addressing *housing need* to *affordability*, which is mainly concerned with market prices and people's ability to pay.
• 😀 Housing need prioritizes ensuring adequate housing for all, particularly those in the worst housing conditions like homelessness and overcrowding.
• 😀 There is a backlog of at least 4 million households in housing need in England, living in substandard housing or overcrowded conditions.
• 😀 The standard method for housing assessment used by local planning authorities is flawed, as it prioritizes market demand over actual housing need, often ignoring those unable to afford market prices.
• 😀 Local authorities are instructed to underestimate housing need through methods that exclude many households living in inadequate conditions or already in housing need.
• 😀 The guidance for assessing affordable housing need often undercounts the number of future households who will be unable to afford market prices, thus minimizing the actual scale of the housing crisis.
• 😀 The guidance also includes inflated projections of affordable housing provision, assuming that allocated sites will deliver more affordable homes than they realistically will, distorting the assessment of need.
• 😀 Dr. Quintin Bradley emphasizes that the lack of priority given to affordable housing results in inadequate strategies to combat homelessness, overcrowding, and inadequate housing.
• 😀 A major solution proposed is to return to the practice of building social rented homes, which was effective from the 1950s to 1980s in addressing housing need.
• 😀 Introducing a new planning use class specifically for social housing could allow local authorities to reserve land exclusively for affordable housing, freezing land values and ensuring more homes are built for those in need.

Q & A

What is the central issue that Dr. Quintin Bradley identifies in the current housing policy in England?

Dr. Quintin Bradley identifies the central issue as the shift in housing policy from addressing housing need to focusing on affordability, which is largely driven by market forces. This shift has resulted in too few affordable homes being built to meet actual housing need.

How does Dr. Bradley distinguish between 'housing need' and 'affordability'?

Dr. Bradley explains that housing need is a priority system that ensures every household has access to adequate housing based on minimum standards, while affordability is focused on market prices and whether people can pay those costs. The former addresses all households, irrespective of income, while the latter is driven by the market.

What was the goal of housing policy in England from 1950 to 1980, according to Dr. Bradley?

From 1950 to 1980, the goal of housing policy in England was to address housing need by building a large number of council homes, with local authorities constructing nearly 4 million homes during that period. This approach prioritized providing adequate housing for all, irrespective of household income.

Why does Dr. Bradley criticize the 'standard method' of assessing housing need?

Dr. Bradley criticizes the 'standard method' because it conflates market demand with actual housing need. It assumes that increasing the supply of homes will automatically make them affordable, which is not the case. The method also fails to adequately prioritize affordable housing in areas of greatest need.

What flaw does Dr. Bradley identify in the government’s guidance for assessing affordable housing need?

Dr. Bradley points out that the government's guidance for assessing affordable housing need systematically undercounts the true scale of housing need by excluding households in overcrowded or substandard accommodation. It also fails to account for future households who will be unable to afford market housing.

How does the government’s guidance impact the calculation of affordable housing need?

The guidance impacts the calculation by instructing local authorities to assume that if households in overcrowded or substandard conditions are rehoused, the homes they vacate will alleviate housing need. Additionally, future housing need is projected based on a very limited subset of households, which minimizes the scale of the problem.

What does Dr. Bradley suggest as a solution to the affordable housing crisis?

Dr. Bradley suggests that local authorities be given the power to reserve land specifically for social housing. By creating a new planning use class for social housing, this would freeze land values and prevent landowners from profiting from land that could be used for affordable housing, ensuring more sites are dedicated to meeting housing need.

Why does Dr. Bradley believe the standard method for calculating housing need is inadequate?

Dr. Bradley believes the standard method is inadequate because it only focuses on market housing, not affordable housing. It does not provide accurate numbers for affordable housing needs and fails to differentiate between the needs of low-income households and those who can afford market prices.

What role do local planning authorities play in the current housing system, and how does this relate to affordable housing?

Local planning authorities are required to assess housing need, but the current system minimizes the actual need for affordable housing by using flawed methods of calculation. They are also tasked with allocating land for housing, but the percentage of affordable housing provided is often low, especially outside London.

What is the key takeaway from Dr. Bradley’s critique of housing policy in England?

The key takeaway is that there is a fundamental misalignment in housing policy, where the focus has shifted from addressing the real need for affordable housing to prioritizing market-driven development. This has resulted in a failure to adequately address homelessness, overcrowding, and the housing needs of low-income households.