Section: Housing Policy
Housing policy - A radical departure from the status quo
Posted 06.12.17
Tony Blair Institute for Global Change: Article link
The paper proposes five policy ideas, which together aim to present a bold and ambitious agenda to solve the UK housing crisis:
- To replace the outdated and discredited Council Tax with a Land Value Tax, building on the best practice from abroad and establishing a fairer and more rational system of property taxation.
- Re-zoning upwards, outwards and inwards to expand the possibilities of more housing construction.
- A new Sovereign Property Fund to support property acquisition by local councils for the express purpose of housing construction and rehabilitation.
- A Rapid Transit Network to accompany the housing regeneration, which through rail, bus and cycle links joins central urban districts to peripheral zones and not only in London but across Britain.
- A new Social Contract with rental sector tenants which extends the standard minimum tenancy to 3 years, limits rental inflation to the consumer price index over that time and provides stronger protections from eviction.
The Paper acknowledges that for many a flourishing rental sector is essential and housing needs are not always served by the focus on ownership to the exclusion of other forms of tenure.
*****
Quick Links
Updated 08.12.17
Guardian Housing Network: Welsh lesson: why the housing crisis is turning into a very English problem - article by Dawn Foster, freelance writer on politics, social affairs and economics.

KeyFacts
KeyFacts provides an easy way to keep up-to-date with issues affecting the UK's social and affordable housing sectors
Selected news and views is reported in summary format, with links to source articles for further reading if required
Watch out for Quick Links - to avoid too much content, we sometimes list headlines only with links to source articles
Summary articles and Quick Links are posted to recognisable sub-sections for easy access - now and at a future date
KeyFacts is an essential free resource for anyone with a busy daily schedule
Reporting on December 2017
Site Sections