How to get housing to the top of the political agenda

If ever we needed a reminder that housing is a political issue, this week’s reshuffle provided it, writes Aileen Evans. Here, the Grand Union Housing Group CEO and former CIH president shares her expertise on how to keep housing at the forefront of politicians' minds.

Over four million people in England are in need of social housing. Two million children are living in overcrowded, unaffordable or unsuitable homes. And those children in temporary accommodation (there’s around 130,000 of them) have to keep moving schools, hindering their education. 

In June, the NHF called for a long-term plan for housing, stating that a decent, affordable home should be a right for us all. 

The CIH followed this up in September with their 10-point plan for more and better homes, urging all political parties to commit to a long-term plan for housing.

And yet, against this, our 16th housing minister since 2010, Lee Rowley, took up post this week; a day before the Renters Reform Bill was due to enter the committee stages and the Leasehold Reform and Freehold bill due there shortly.

Is it any wonder we have a broken housing system?

The government announced it would be spending £58.2 billion on subsidising private landlords, but only £11.2 billion on its entire housebuilding programme over the next four years. Just why is housebuilding such a low priority?

Policy choices are often made on the basis of public opinion, and it’s good to see that the lack of affordable housing is beginning to feature as an issue for the public and occupying more space in the media.

But what can we do, as housing professionals, and citizens, to keep the pressure on?

I believe political influence is as much about process as it is about the conversations we have; it’s a process we take really seriously at Grand Union and one that I take seriously as a member of the public.

What do we, and I, do?

Firstly, we need to keep our corner of the room clean, so we have a mechanism for identifying MP emails quickly and dealing with them effectively. There’s little point expecting we can influence policy if we respond poorly (or worse, not at all!) when politicians, including councillors need something from us.  

We have set up a special mailbox, which is constantly monitored, and we also have keyword triggers in our customer contact team’s email inbox in case any arrive at Grand Union via an alternate path. Those who we deal with most regularly have a named contact; it’s either me or our executive director of operations.  

We have response targets: one day to acknowledge, and a maximum of one week to respond. We keep people informed and monitor this rigorously.

We’re not afraid to pick up the phone to speak to the MP or the constituency office, particularly when issues are complex. This helps us to build a relationship long term and can avoid lots of back and forwarding via email.

There’s little point expecting we can influence policy if we respond poorly when politicians need something from us

We work hard to know what’s important to MPs and offer them help and support. If there are changes proposed to housing regulations, for example, we can talk them through what it means for us, and for our customers.

We know which constituencies our housing stock is in, and we invite politicians to see what and where we’re building. We also discuss with them what our colleagues experience every day in their roles, so we can build their understanding. 

For example, we have a great relationship with Andrea Leadsom MP, who we recently invited to see some new energy-efficient homes we’d built in her constituency. These relationships are key, particularly when our customers ask for help with their campaign to save a local bus service that they use to get to work.

I’m meeting the new MP for Mid Bedfordshire, Alistair Strathern, soon, too. He’s keen to deliver for his new constituents, and we’re keen to keep him informed and updated on housing-related matters.

Invite MPs to meet your customers, too. Let your customers tell them about their personal experiences. You won’t have better advocates for social housing than those who live in it already, or those who desperately need to.

We’re just putting together our political engagement strategy, and we add candidates to a contact list as soon as they are declared, so we can begin the engagement process. Getting in early is critical. Even if they don't succeed this time, the chances are they will pop up somewhere later on.

We know we have things to offer the candidates (like photo opportunities), so don't be afraid to use what you have to get your point and position across to them.

We keep our statistics and arguments local. Things like how big social housing waiting lists are, what the local levels of temporary accommodation are, and how many new social housing properties have been built in the past year or two, for example.

And from a personal perspective, I know what’s happening in my local area and am always ready to challenge candidates if they’re out campaigning or door-knocking. A recent, hotly contested, council by-election in my constituency saw me quoting statistics about land use in the UK to the candidate who wanted to “stop building over the countryside”, informing them about temporary accommodation use by my local authority and asking them about affordability.

Any candidate knocking on my door will leave understanding exactly what I think of the housing crisis and will also understand the ways we can fix it.

We must keep the pressure on our MPs to make social housing a priority. We owe it to those four million people who desperately need it.