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One of the key issues that Labour will need to resolve is how to match their aspirations to expand the construction of (social) housing with the geographical and demographic 'housing need'... but as Alex Lord (ULiverpool) notes, currently housing need is a crude & undifferentiated metric to work from.

Really assessing & then targeting a more nuanced depiction of housing need, should help Angela Rayner deliver on her promise(s) & get the right dwellings built!

#housing

theconversation.com/no-governm

The ConversationNo government in half a century has built 300,000 homes every year, but that’s what Labour wants to do nowThe government’s desire to tackle England’s housing crisis is encouraging – but this will require a more rigorous approach to the calculation of housing need.

@ChrisMayLA6 so long as she doesn't let the big builders convince her that high quality housing is far too expensive to build.
It adds very little to the cost of a building about £1k to make it reach passivhus standard, so compared to the builders profit a flea bite.
But instead social housing becomes cheap for the poor to live in. So adds to the local economy as the poor spend most of their income.

@urlyman @epistatacadam

I *think* I recall there was some talk on both, 1. Crack down on multiple home ownership &
2. Crack down on vacant property at some point in the past, but as yet nothing concrete being suggested... your last point on environmental standards is interesting - see also @epistatacadam - not least of all for a small investment, one might see some wider useful economic effects

Annie Radetzky

@ChrisMayLA6 @urlyman @epistatacadam most vacant property is in probate or owned by people in long-term care. A mechanism for dealing with the remainder would be useful however there is already an empty homes premium in the Council Tax system. (UK)

@Soupdragon interesting. Thanks. However council tax is but one lever.

e.g. Stamp duty calibrated to housing demand within a local authority might unlock housing stock. If we’re worried about ‘unfairness’ it could be phased in so people have time to sell up before the hit. Which would lower prices.

But being unfair on people who already have too much is better than being unfair on people who have too little

@ChrisMayLA6 @epistatacadam

@ChrisMayLA6 @urlyman @epistatacadam it would also be useful to be able to liquidate properties in long-term probate. When you have a semi that hasn't been maintained for ten years it can become a problem due to vandalism, infestation, deterioration etc.

@Soupdragon @ChrisMayLA6 @urlyman @epistatacadam I think you mean housing property. It would be interesting to see a crackdown on empty *commercial* property, because there's always too much of that and converting some of it into living space would solve a lot of problems.

@Soupdragon @ChrisMayLA6 @urlyman @epistatacadam Good lord, don't apologise. It's natural* that you'd think above all of your specific sector.

*I have no idea why autocorrect suggested "narwhal" here.

@anarchic_teapot @Soupdragon @ChrisMayLA6 @urlyman @epistatacadam Since the rules were changed so that empty business property attracted rates empty business property has basically vanished in Wales. Unfortunately that's because every square meter of unused space is rented out for free or a pound to a charity, art collective, hackspace or similar. Been great for those groups but not the original goal.
A lot of office space is also very hard to convert for light and structural reasons.

@etchedpixels @Soupdragon @ChrisMayLA6 @urlyman @epistatacadam

Well, that's good news. However, the real problem is that commercial and industrial buildings aren't built to anything like the same standards as housing, starting with insulation. I've spent too many years in offices where you freeze in winter and bake in summer. Don't get me started on abominations like the Shard.

@anarchic_teapot @Soupdragon @ChrisMayLA6 @urlyman @epistatacadam Light is the biggest problem in many cases. A lot of modern stuff is big open spaces that only work because they are open and light propagates deep into the building through all those big windows. When you start trying to add internal walls you've got plenty of insulation options but keeping sufficient light is hard.

@etchedpixels
In my experience, a lot of them supplement with artificial lighting anyway, just to show there's someone there <insert rant here>. (@Soupdragon @ChrisMayLA6 @urlyman @epistatacadam

@anarchic_teapot @Soupdragon @urlyman @epistatacadam

In the past in my timeline we've discussed re-purposing commercial property to residential, and the consensus was while possible, not as easy or as cheap as people often think - which is not to say it shouldn't be done, but it is not a 'cheap fix' (not that I am suggesting you thought it was)

@ChrisMayLA6 @anarchic_teapot @urlyman @epistatacadam a lot depends on the building. Georgian shop units can convert quite nicely. A 70s office block or a 90s carpet showroom is not so good. Costs may vary.

@Soupdragon @anarchic_teapot @urlyman @epistatacadam

Yes, costs (and difficulty) may vary... which is not to say it doesn't work in specific circumstances, just that the general invocation of commercial conversion is a little too general as a policy aim

@ChrisMayLA6 @Soupdragon @urlyman @epistatacadam Yup <hard side-eye at so-called "business parks", although the one near me does also have shops and restaurants>

@Soupdragon @ChrisMayLA6 @urlyman @epistatacadam There have been mechanisms for dealing with empty homes for years (CPO EDMO, section 17 etc). There's no money to use them is the problem there.