Introduction: The Politics and Policy of Housing

This preface introduces a special collection of articles on the politics of housing policy. The essays in the collection respond directly to the agenda of the new Labour government, which has put almost all of its housing policy emphasis on new build targets. The government will undoubtedly find meeting these objectives extremely challenging. It faces many different constraints, including getting planning permission, meeting building regulatory requirements and finding enough skilled workers to develop new towns and increase the proportions of new build across the grey belt. Local concerns and a lack of infrastructure will, at best, slow processes. The government is also improving conditions for private tenants by getting rid of no-fault evictions and restructuring finances by modifying stamp duty, putting more emphasis on richer households paying the costs of development.