Housing is not just part of the cost-of-living crisis: it is the cost-of-living crisis.
Strip everything back, and the pressures people feel in their daily lives so often come down to one question: can I afford a safe, secure place to live, with enough left for food, bills, and even the hope of saving?
When people speak to me on the doorstep, by email, or in advice surgeries, they worry about whether they can afford their rent, whether they will ever be able to buy a home, and whether their children will get that chance.
They also raise concerns about the quality of the homes they live in – damp, mould, poor maintenance, alongside the growing burden of service charges and opaque leasehold costs that turn home ownership into anxiety rather than security.
After years in which housing supply fell far short of need, there is now a clear recognition that the country cannot fix its wider economic challenges without fixing housing.
The commitment to build 1.5 million homes, backed by planning reform, acknowledges that chronic undersupply has held back growth, deepened inequality and limited opportunity.
Read: Council ‘tight-lipped’ on response to government’s efforts to tackle housing crisis
The updated National Planning Policy Framework and the creation of a New Homes Accelerator signal a shift towards getting homes built, not just promised.
Social and Affordable Homes Programme
The £39 billion Social and Affordable Homes Programme, delivering around 300,000 homes with a strong emphasis on social rent, reflects an understanding that the market alone will not meet need.
The ban on no-fault evictions and the extension of the Decent Homes Standard, alongside measures such as Awaab’s Law to tackle damp and mould, rebalances a system that has too often left tenants with too little protection.
Safe, decent housing should be the baseline.
Communities at the heart of regeneration
If housing is the foundation, then communities are the fabric built upon it. The £5 billion Pride in Place programme, putting funding into 339 neighbourhoods with local people deciding how it is spent, represents a different approach to regeneration, placing communities at its heart.
There is also a growing focus on prevention, particularly in tackling homelessness. A £3.5 billion cross-government plan aims to intervene earlier and reduce reliance on temporary accommodation.
Read: Council launches public consultation on Housing Allocations Scheme
However, one issue that continues to come up with increasing urgency is leasehold reform. Escalating service charges, unclear fees, and the difficulty of challenging poor practice or selling a property have created what I believe is a scandal.
The move towards commonhold as the default tenure and the wider programme of leasehold reform is vital.
Read: Crowe Road rising service charge concerns residents
Improving transparency and strengthening the ability of leaseholders to challenge unreasonable charges are necessary steps. But it is important to be honest; reform in such a complex and litigious area will take time, which is a difficult reality when many leaseholders need relief sooner.
The Government has the right policies in place for more homes, better homes, stronger rights, and greater local control.
There is still a long way to go, and delivery will be the true test. But if we are serious about easing the cost of living and restoring fairness, housing is where that work must continue with urgency.
This is a monthly guest column provided by
Mohammad Yasin, Labour MP for Bedford & Kempston.
It is published unedited and does not
reflect the views of the Bedford Independent.
