If you’re anything like us, the last couple of weeks have felt a little disorienting. After the noise of the general election campaign and weeks spent poring over manifestos and potential ministers, we are now two weeks into a new Labour government – and the slower, serious business of Parliament has resumed.
But there are still huge question marks hanging over our sector’s head. With news on ministers and policies still outstanding, the future remains uncertain. In this blog we will take you through what Labour has prioritised so far, what more we can expect from manifestos, and how this aligns with our asks for the new Government as outlined in our new welcome briefings.
The first two weeks
In amongst the pomp and circumstance of the King’s Speech were some much-awaited policies that align with our calls for improved housing affordability We were very pleased to see renter’s reform remain on the agenda, with the commitment to end section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions. Some of the loudest voices on this campaign have come from within our membership, and we’re extremely proud to see those efforts reflected in the new government’s priorities.
Changes to planning legislation also made the agenda, taking a firm place on our ‘one to watch’ list. Planning means housebuilding. Labour’s manifesto commitment to deliver the biggest increase in social housebuilding in a generation means we hope to see a desperately needed boost to Britain’s social housing stock. But Labour have not made any firm commitments on how many social homes they plan to build. With many thousands of people stuck in temporary accommodation because of an unaffordable market, we are keen to hear a firm and ambitious target emerge soon.
What else can we expect?
Labour have been outspoken about their approach to ‘mission-driven government’, and before the election we had worried that homelessness may not fit neatly into the much-discussed five missions. We therefore welcomed Labour’s manifesto with quiet optimism as the party committed to develop a cross-government strategy […] to put Britain back on track to ending homelessness. We look forward to supporting new ministers to develop a strategy which enables a homelessness system that works for all.
After much talk about ending ‘sticking-plaster politics’, we also welcomed key policies to reduce poverty and address common drivers into homelessness. Many of these align with our calls for homelessness prevention to be weaved throughout government . These include welfare reforms in Universal Credit and work capability assessments, policy to tackle the social determinants of health, and improvements in housing support for people in contact with the justice system.
The party also floated multi-year funding settlements at local authority level and an end to wasteful competitive bidding. These asks have been at the core of our calls for a renewed approach to homelessness funding and we look forward to seeing them enacted.
What’s missing?
As the election dust has settled, there has been a notable silence on homelessness from Number 10. As of writing we are without a homelessness minister, with former shadow minister and friend to the sector Mike Amesbury not named among the new batch of MHCLG officials. We look forward to working with the new minister equally closely once they are announced.
Whispers of a national Housing First scheme have not yet come to fruition, nor have those of a cross-departmental homelessness task force. Rumours of this task force had been received as a sign that Labour were listening to the sector, which has long called for departments across government to share responsibility for ending homelessness.
Causes for concern
With all forms of homelessness rising, a record number of households in temporary accommodation and rough sleeping rapidly approaching its 2017 peak, the need for departments to work together to end homelessness has rarely been more pressing.
We encourage the Home Office to learn lessons from the previous government as they meet their manifesto commitment to clear the asylum backlog and end the use of asylum hotels. While we welcome any improvements that will see fewer people stuck in asylum limbo, we also urge the Government not to replicate last year’s disastrous accommodation cessation scheme. This saw people being evicted without an onward plan, leading to a steep rise in rough sleeping and a nearly threefold increase in the number of newly recognised refugees experiencing homelessness, all of which threatened to overwhelm local authority housing teams. Ministry of Justice should also heed warnings on the risk of unintended consequences to homelessness as they proceed with the early prisoner release scheme. With a shortage of emergency housing spaces across the country, we fear that without careful planning a huge number of released prisoners may have nowhere to go but the streets.
Not only would this place huge pressure on outreach teams, local authority housing teams, and homelessness accommodation providers – it would also set newly-released prisoners up to fail. Homelessness makes meeting licence conditions harder to meet, and leaves people much more likely to re-offend than those in stable housing. We urge government to proceed carefully and take measures to avoid prisoners being released with no option but to sleep rough.
Next steps
As the new government continues to take shape, we will be working hard to share our priorities with ministers and continue to build support among backbench MPs. If you are keen to help your local MP understand the most pressing issues facing services like yours, you should write to them using our New MPs Resource Pack, which contains a template letter, alongside sharing our briefings.
