London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Aug 22, 2025

The private housing sector is failing to meet social need

The private housing sector is failing to meet social need

AS THE temporary coronavirus crisis ban on evictions comes to an end, the government is facing demands for immediate action to halt the tsunami of homelessness that threatens one in five private renters.
A variety of factors intervene to make this particular crisis worse than the routine human disasters which attend the normal working of Britain’s dysfunctional housing set-up.

First up, an enormous backlog of rent arrears has built up over the last year. This is no surprise given that millions have been surviving on reduced incomes and that many people are finding that as the furlough subsidies run out, housing insecurity is added to their precarious work situation.

Second, the starting point for this particular stage in the housing crisis is grounded in the uncomfortable truth that one in four renters in the private housing sector entered this crisis already mired in poverty. Half the children living in privately rented housing live below the poverty line.

It is a scandal that in 21st-century Britain — in the fifth richest economy in the world — millions of families face the choice of skimping on food and fuel or paying rent.

Deep-seated structural factors make the housing situation a nightmare for any working family that cannot access cash or credit.

Britain’s housing crisis is rooted in the capitalist system itself and in the peculiar turn that British capital has taken in which a highly financialised speculative economy has ballooned into a permanent pressure for instability and housing shortage.

Despite the Tory attempts — some successful — to place the blame for the 2008 financial crisis on excessive public spending, the real root for the collapse, the profligate lending by US banks “secured” on unsustainable valuations on dodgy “subprime” property that fed directly into our economy, tells us much about the workings of the housing market.

Every landlord, whether they are a small scale buy-to-let speculator paying for their own housing by renting out, or a big corporation hoovering up ex-council housing stock, or an investment business banging up apartment blocks in inner-city sites, or a builder covering the countryside with “executive homes” for people fleeing the cities – they all know that shortage is what drives up prices and rents.

Official figures suggest Britain needs well over 300,000 new homes every year just to meet the normal growth in population and the kind of demographic changes which flow from the routine operation of a developed economy.

But even if this figure were to be achieved it would not meet the backlog.

The simple fact is that, as in so many areas of modern life, the private sector cannot meet social need.

Meeting the simple demand that everyone have a roof over their head and a secure place to call home has proved beyond the capacity of the capitalist system.

Controls on capital is the bedrock solution to the kind of planning that is needed to solve so many problems.

There are a million-plus people on council housing waiting lists. A massive investment in public housing coupled with extra powers to local authorities to unlock capital, regulate rents and housing quality standards, acquire vacant property and drive down housing costs is needed.

Every expert, from select committee to Shelter, knows what is needed. It is the political system held hostage to private ownership and profit that stands in the way.

If workable solutions to the systemic crisis of housing cannot be found within the framework of society as it is presently organised, then the question arises, where can we gather the forces, the ideas and the people to make the necessary changes?
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Ukraine Declares De Facto War on Hungary and Slovakia with Terror Drone Strikes on Their Gas Lifeline
Animated K-pop Musical ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Becomes Netflix’s Most-Watched Original Animated Film
New York Appeals Court Voids Nearly $500 Million Civil Fraud Penalty Against Trump While Upholding Fraud Liability
Elon Musk tweeted, “Europe is dying”
Far-Right Activist Convicted of Incitement Changes Gender and Demands: "Send Me to a Women’s Prison" | The Storm in Germany
Hungary Criticizes Ukraine: "Violating Our Sovereignty"
Will this be the first country to return to negative interest rates?
Child-free hotels spark controversy
North Korea is where this 95-year-old wants to die. South Korea won’t let him go. Is this our ally or a human rights enemy?
Hong Kong Launches Regulatory Regime and Trials for HKD-Backed Stablecoins
China rehearses September 3 Victory Day parade as imagery points to ‘loyal wingman’ FH-97 family presence
Trump Called Viktor Orbán: "Why Are You Using the Veto"
Horror in the Skies: Plane Engine Exploded, Passengers Sent Farewell Messages
MSNBC Rebrands as MS NOW Amid Comcast’s Cable Spin-Off
AI in Policing: Draft One Helps Speed Up Reports but Raises Legal and Ethical Concerns
Shame in Norway: Crown Princess’s Son Accused of Four Rapes
Apple Begins Simultaneous iPhone 17 Production in India and China
A Robot to Give Birth: The Chinese Announcement That Shakes the World
Finnish MP Dies by Suicide in Parliament Building
Outrage in the Tennis World After Jannik Sinner’s Withdrawal Storm
William and Kate Are Moving House – and the New Neighbors Were Evicted
Class Action Lawsuit Against Volkswagen: Steering Wheel Switches Cause Accidents
Taylor Swift on the Way to the Super Bowl? All the Clues Stirring Up Fans
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Apple Expands Social Media Presence in China With RedNote Account Ahead of iPhone 17 Launch
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Cambridge Dictionary Adds 'Skibidi,' 'Delulu,' and 'Tradwife' Amid Surge of Online Slang
Bill Barr Testifies No Evidence Implicated Trump in Epstein Case; DOJ Set to Release Records
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
The CEO Who Replaced 80% of Employees for the AI Revolution: "I Would Do It Again"
Emails Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Character.ai Bets on Future of AI Companionship
China Ramps Up Tax Crackdown on Overseas Investments
Japanese Office Furniture Maker Expands into Bomb Shelter Market
Intel Shares Surge on Possible U.S. Government Investment
Hurricane Erin Threatens U.S. East Coast with Dangerous Surf
EU Blocks Trade Statement Over Digital Rule Dispute
EU Sends Record Aid as Spain Battles Wildfires
JPMorgan Plans New Canary Wharf Tower
Zelenskyy and his allies say they will press Trump on security guarantees
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Escalating Clashes in Serbia as Anti-Government Protests Spread Nationwide
The Drought in Britain and the Strange Request from the Government to Delete Old Emails
Category 5 Hurricane in the Caribbean: 'Catastrophic Storm' with Winds of 255 km/h
"No, Thanks": The Mathematical Genius Who Turned Down 1.5 Billion Dollars from Zuckerberg
The surprising hero, the ugly incident, and the criticism despite victory: "Liverpool’s defense exposed in full"
Digital Humans Move Beyond Sci-Fi: From Virtual DJs to AI Customer Agents
YouTube will start using AI to guess your age. If it’s wrong, you’ll have to prove it
Jellyfish Swarm Triggers Shutdown at Gravelines Nuclear Power Station in Northern France
×