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Britains.Housing.Crisis.What.Went.Wrong.S01E01
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00:00What we want to see is what I've called a property-owning democracy.
00:03We want to help people own their houses.
00:09The goal of a property-owning democracy.
00:13The right for every family to have their own home.
00:18To increase home ownership by one million.
00:23A whole generation given the security of a home of their own.
00:26Reigniting home ownership in Britain once again.
00:33Giving millions of young people the chance to own their own homes.
00:39House prices have reached another all-time high.
00:43You'd hear a lot about people investing and saying,
00:46oh, that's just my pension.
00:47For someone who was trying to get on the property ladder, it made me quite angry.
00:51You would become a bit of a plaything in financial markets.
00:57Developers saw their profits soar and their share prices rocket.
01:01Investors and developers have got far too greedy.
01:04They've made far too much money out of people's homes.
01:10When I revert back to 2006, the idea, you've got to buy a home,
01:15push your finances to the extreme to buy a home,
01:19renting is a dirty word.
01:20But I do look back with real anger.
01:29It's entirely the government's fault.
01:32Governments in this country failed to build enough homes.
01:35The thing that makes me angry is that it is a political choice.
01:40Nothing needed to have happened,
01:42nothing should have happened that allowed this market
01:48to get to this state.
01:50I've just accepted Her Majesty the Queen's kind offer
02:11to form a new administration of government in this country.
02:14Outside the Treasury, the arrival of Gordon Brown
02:18prompted the unusual sight of a chancellor being cheered in the street.
02:30Tuesday, the 6th of May, first working day after the election.
02:35And on that Monday, I had come back from playing tennis
02:39and I got a phone call from Eddie George, the governor at the time.
02:43He said, come into the bank immediately.
02:45He told me that he had just been informed by Gordon Brown
02:48that the bank would be given operational independence
02:51to set interest rates.
02:53I've therefore decided to give the Bank of England
02:55operational responsibility for setting interest rates
02:59with immediate effect.
03:01The new chancellor, Gordon Brown,
03:03took the city and Westminster by surprise this morning
03:06with his decision to radically alter the role of the Bank of England.
03:10The decision to make the Bank of England independent in 1997
03:14was indeed arguably the most important decision
03:17that the new Labour government made in its 13 years in power.
03:21This was a watershed moment.
03:24The argument is, in the long term, mortgages should be cheaper
03:27and over a period of years make the cost of borrowing lower for everyone.
03:32Following the decision to make the Bank of England independent,
03:36and we saw a big fall in real interest rates then,
03:40a lot more people could suddenly afford to buy.
03:43When you have low interest rates, borrowing is really cheap.
03:47And if borrowing is really cheap,
03:49then the biggest form of debt that most people have,
03:52which is their mortgage, is really cheap,
03:54so people are able to buy houses.
03:57The problem, of course, though, is if everybody has a mortgage
04:00and that everyone is buying a house,
04:02well, then you're going to have to pay more and more and more
04:05to get the houses.
04:09There's a bewildering array of loans about,
04:11with lenders cutting each other's throats to win business,
04:15offering ever lower rates on ever bigger sums.
04:17You have this explosion in mortgage credit,
04:22and this is a lot to do with the deregulation
04:25that we saw in the 1990s and in the 1980s,
04:29but it's also to do with low interest rates.
04:33Because interest rates fell,
04:35which meant the cost of mortgages reduced,
04:38house prices were able to grow faster than wages grew.
04:44There's been another big rise in property prices.
04:47The boom has rippled out from London.
04:50They're on the up and up.
04:51House prices are soaring at their fastest rates
04:54since the boom of the 80s.
05:05$1.645 at a stand at $10 million.
05:14And so there was certainly a significant improvement
05:25in the confidence of the rest of the world
05:27in how the UK was being run,
05:29and that led more people to want to buy assets
05:31in the United Kingdom.
05:34And meant that assets of all kinds
05:37in the United Kingdom became more expensive.
05:40There was a lot of money available
05:42looking for places to invest.
05:43Now, when you've got lots of money available to lend,
05:47and when you've got a supply of housing
05:49that is not as high as it should be,
05:51that's a lethal combination.
05:52I had a look at a flat,
06:02and it was quite small, you know, modest,
06:04kind of as you'd expect for a first-time place,
06:07and it had sort of a, you know, one bedroom.
06:10But as I was leaving,
06:11the estate agent kind of let slip.
06:12He said, oh, well, there's actually an investor
06:14who's put in an offer on the whole house.
06:16The traditional idea that most families
06:20could reasonably expect to own their own home,
06:23that actually was being overtaken
06:25by a different kind of motivation,
06:28that investing in property
06:31was better than investing in stocks and shares,
06:35in wealth creation.
06:43There was money coming in,
06:44and therefore you needed to create ways
06:47for that money to flow out.
06:49And clearly a substantial part of that
06:52was the buy-to-let market.
06:54It's quite simple.
06:55You buy a house,
06:57you let it out to tenants,
06:58they pay your rent,
06:59and this covers the mortgage.
07:01Tina buys houses like Imelda Marcos bought shoes.
07:05She currently owns not one,
07:07not two,
07:07not three,
07:08but 18 properties,
07:10and there's still no stopping her.
07:13And people were doing this,
07:14buying one,
07:15buying two,
07:16buying four.
07:17It was an arithmetic game.
07:19The TV programmes at the time
07:21really poured fuel on the fire
07:24and talked non-stop about
07:26the fact that you could be clever,
07:28you could buy a property,
07:30do it up,
07:30sell it for a lot more.
07:31I call them property porn
07:33because ultimately they were just,
07:35everyone was watching
07:36with these lustful eyes
07:38about what they could get
07:39and what they should do.
07:41Shafi has made some money
07:42in the property boom.
07:43She's just sold her flat
07:44in this tower block
07:46and invested the money
07:47in this £400,000 house in Hendon.
07:51Shafi's planning to put
07:52as many bedrooms as possible
07:54in this property
07:54so she can rent it out room by room
07:57for £3,500 a month.
07:59That's twice as much
08:01as she currently earns as a nurse.
08:09The process of rising prices
08:12created a surge of activity
08:14that reinforced the growth
08:16of house prices
08:18and created this spiral,
08:22this period of exuberance,
08:24but while everyone knew
08:26that it couldn't last forever,
08:28no-one was clear
08:29how and when
08:30it was going to stop.
08:32The number of people
08:47with mortgages fell
08:49while the amount
08:50of those mortgages
08:51doubled in value.
08:54Credit was not going
08:55into creating more homeowners,
08:58it was just going
08:59into making homeowners
09:01need to borrow more money
09:03to purchase a house
09:05than they would have done previously.
09:08Property prices
09:09were rising all of the time
09:10and that was always reported
09:12as a good news story
09:13and that was really frustrating
09:15for someone who wanted
09:16to buy their first home.
09:18You would hear a lot
09:21about property investors,
09:22you'd hear a lot
09:22about buy-to-let,
09:23you'd hear a lot
09:24about people investing
09:25and, you know,
09:26people saying,
09:27oh, that's just my pension.
09:29And there seems to be
09:30the sense that people
09:31could just keep using
09:32property as an asset,
09:34as an investment,
09:34without there being
09:35a knock-on effect
09:37for people.
09:39And there 100%
09:40is a knock-on effect,
09:41especially when demand,
09:43you know,
09:43was outstripping supply.
09:46That kind of felt
09:47like a real kick in the teeth.
09:50For someone who was trying
09:50to get on the property ladder,
09:52it made me quite angry.
09:54That's how I first
09:56got involved with Priced Out.
09:58In London,
09:58I caught up with some young people
10:00demonstrating outside
10:01a property investment show.
10:03It's really widening
10:04the gap between rich and poor.
10:05People with property
10:07are the ones
10:07who are able to get more
10:08and that's what inequality is
10:10and people who don't have anything
10:11are, you know,
10:12completely disenfranchised.
10:14You know, I can't afford
10:15to get an ex-council flat
10:17in most places.
10:19So Priced Out was formed
10:20in the early 2000s
10:21to kind of be the voice
10:22of the first-time buyer
10:24who was struggling
10:24to get onto the property market.
10:26You know,
10:27we obviously felt strongly
10:28about the situation
10:29that we were facing.
10:36Central government
10:37had a role
10:37to really sit up
10:38and see the crisis
10:39that was unfurling
10:40before them
10:40and 100%
10:42that was the opposite
10:42of what we experienced.
10:51I think it's fair to say
10:52that back in 2003
10:54housing was just beginning
10:55to rise up
10:56the political agenda
10:57and everyone was obsessed
10:58with this question
10:59of why house prices
11:00seemed to be exploding
11:01but supply wasn't responding
11:04to keep up.
11:06And so you had this
11:07kind of powder keg
11:08that was really pushing
11:09prices up quite quickly.
11:12Prices were rising
11:13really quickly
11:13but the supply
11:14of new housing wasn't.
11:17And you hadn't got
11:17enough housing
11:18so what was exercising
11:19the Treasury,
11:20if you like,
11:21was this problem.
11:22So the Treasury rang me up
11:23and said,
11:24would I like to lead
11:25a review on housing?
11:27Kate Barker
11:28is a top economist
11:29asked by the Treasury
11:30to look at what's needed
11:31to take the heat
11:32out of the housing market.
11:35The Treasury asked me to.
11:36They asked us to estimate
11:37how many homes
11:38we had to be building
11:39to reduce
11:40that long-term trend
11:42in house prices rising
11:44relative to incomes.
11:46So we had a pretty
11:47heroic go at it.
11:49The report by
11:50Miss Kate Barker
11:51today concludes
11:52that the supply
11:53of new homes
11:54consistently lags
11:55behind demand
11:56and that the number
11:57of houses built
11:58in Britain
11:58which are currently
12:00175,000 a year
12:02must rise substantially
12:03if we are to reduce
12:04house price inflation.
12:06The ballpark range
12:08of new private housing
12:10that we were talking
12:10about was probably
12:11around the 240,000
12:13to 250,000 range.
12:21The Barker Review
12:22completely defined
12:24the way that we all
12:25thought about housing.
12:26I think why it was
12:28so groundbreaking
12:29was it was the
12:30most forensic
12:31diagnosis of the problem.
12:33It escalated it
12:34to the point
12:35that we started
12:36to understand
12:37that there was
12:37a genuine crisis
12:38and it talked about
12:40the need to build
12:41more homes
12:41and that in the end
12:43there was this
12:43massive mismatch
12:44between the demand
12:45for housing
12:45and the supply of homes
12:47and until you tackled
12:48that you wouldn't
12:49be able to break out
12:50of the housing crisis
12:50and I think that
12:51completely changed
12:52the game.
12:55She also talked
12:56rightly about
12:58people's well-being
12:59if you like
12:59the social impact
13:00of there being
13:01adequate housing.
13:03The way in which
13:04the housing stock
13:05was allocated
13:05just wasn't fair
13:06so we had this
13:08shortage of social
13:09housing at the
13:09bottom so that
13:11only very poor people
13:12were being housed.
13:13The people in the
13:14level just above that
13:15sort of struggling
13:16to get into good
13:17private rent
13:17and then very difficult
13:19for people to move
13:20into owner occupation.
13:23She also pointed out
13:24the intimate link
13:26between the availability
13:27of housing
13:28and the performance
13:28of the economy.
13:30More and more money
13:31is tied up in mortgages
13:33to buy houses
13:34as the prices escalate
13:35the mortgages go up
13:36so they've got less money
13:38to spend or to save
13:39and that is a serious problem
13:41for the wider economy.
13:44The whole bias
13:46of the lending system
13:47shifted against
13:49creative, productive
13:51activity
13:52and in favour of property.
13:54It sucks too much
13:54investment into housing
13:56as opposed to into
13:57small firms
13:58and industry
13:59and other ways.
14:08For England
14:09we will raise
14:10the annual house building
14:11target for 2016
14:13from 200,000 houses
14:15a year
14:15to 240,000
14:18new homes
14:18a year.
14:20The housing stock
14:21did increase
14:22in 2007.
14:24We built more houses
14:25than any time
14:26since the height
14:27of the Thatcher era.
14:29But it was quite clear
14:30to all of us
14:31that if we were going
14:32to start to deal
14:33with the problems
14:35being caused
14:36by the lack of housing
14:37we needed to build
14:38much, much more.
14:39I often look back
14:43at this with a bit
14:44of a shudder
14:44they really geared up
14:45to deliver more houses
14:46if you look back
14:47at 2007 to 8
14:49real evidence
14:50of greater delivery
14:51and then of course
14:52the financial crisis
14:53came.
14:57It's official
14:58property prices
14:59are rising fast.
15:01There's more evidence
15:02today that house prices
15:03are continuing
15:03to rise rapidly.
15:04The economy
15:06seemed to be booming
15:07a lot of people
15:08thought that we were
15:09in a wonderful period
15:11of everlasting expansion
15:13but a lot of it
15:15hinged on the boom
15:16in the housing market.
15:18It was a time
15:20when if a bank
15:21glanced at you
15:22out of the corner
15:23of their eye
15:23before you knew it
15:24they would have given
15:25you a mortgage
15:25for 200,000 pounds.
15:27I mean they were
15:27just spitting them
15:28out there with ease.
15:30Often 100% mortgages
15:32was 125% mortgages
15:34and it was all
15:35based on this idea
15:36that you couldn't
15:37lose with property.
15:38House prices
15:39are continuing
15:39to rise strongly.
15:41Not only have
15:41house prices
15:42gone up again
15:43but it's the biggest
15:44monthly rise
15:45for almost two years.
15:47They were being
15:47pushed up further
15:48by credit
15:49being pumped
15:50into the market
15:50by the banks
15:51and building societies.
15:53They appeared
15:54to be no limit
15:55on what they were
15:56willing to put
15:57into the market.
15:58For me
15:58the total ambition
15:59is to make
16:00buying houses
16:01as easy.
16:02as buying
16:02a carton
16:03of milk
16:03out of Tesco.
16:04It's about 15
16:05times my income
16:06I believe
16:07and that just
16:07makes it
16:07completely
16:08unaffordable
16:08for me to be
16:09able to live
16:09in and around
16:10where I work.
16:12I distinctly
16:12remember one
16:13conversation
16:14with the chief
16:15executive
16:15of a building
16:16society
16:16who appeared
16:18fixated over
16:20success
16:21being the ability
16:22to lend more.
16:25The regulations
16:26were not tight
16:27at the time
16:27they were simply
16:28chucking out
16:29mortgages
16:29to anybody
16:30and everybody
16:31because it
16:32was making
16:32them money
16:33to do so
16:34without any
16:35real strong
16:36tangible form
16:38of responsibility.
16:39People began
16:40to create
16:41a myth
16:42within themselves
16:43that this
16:45process was
16:46undeniably good
16:48that everyone
16:49was gaining
16:50from it.
16:51and if we
16:54were creating
16:55it well
16:56why not
16:57have a share
16:58of it.
16:59People would
16:59be taken out
17:00all expenses
17:01paid,
17:02golfing trips,
17:04restaurants
17:04where people
17:06would literally
17:07order the largest
17:09lobster that
17:09they could see.
17:11Here at the
17:12building society
17:12they can't lend
17:13money fast enough.
17:15the explosion
17:16of activity
17:18all the bad
17:19things that
17:20happened
17:20in the noughties
17:22even now
17:23I burn
17:24with anger
17:24at the greed
17:27the selfishness
17:29the short termism
17:30It was only
17:32a matter of time
17:32before something
17:33stopped the party.
17:36I and I think
17:37some others
17:38were warning
17:38that we had
17:39something like
17:40a bubble
17:40in the housing market
17:41which was a
17:42dangerous state
17:42of affairs.
17:48When I revert
17:49back to 2006
17:502007
17:51to the idea
17:52you've got to
17:53buy a home
17:54push your finances
17:55to the extreme
17:56to buy a home
17:57renting is a
17:58dirty word
17:59I do look back
18:00with real anger.
18:03Fears are growing
18:03that many people
18:04could be taking
18:05on too much debt.
18:07Petite for borrowing
18:08is stronger than ever.
18:10The Bank of England
18:10said mortgage
18:11lending rose
18:12by a record
18:128 billion pounds
18:14last month.
18:18The Bank of England
18:20I think needs
18:20to accept
18:21some responsibility.
18:23They knew
18:24what was happening.
18:25They were
18:26tracking flows
18:27of credit
18:28into the housing
18:29market.
18:31They publish
18:32statistics on this
18:33every month.
18:35So yes
18:35they were
18:36to some extent
18:37I think
18:38asleep at the wheel.
18:41there are signs
18:44of trouble
18:45in the broader
18:45mortgage market.
18:46Foreclosures
18:47hit a record
18:47last quarter.
18:49There were
18:49a lot of mortgages
18:50that were lent out
18:51to people.
18:52They may not have
18:52had jobs
18:53they may not have
18:54had any form
18:54of income
18:54whatsoever.
18:56Nevertheless
18:56lenders said
18:57well interest rates
18:57are low
18:58we can still
18:58make money
18:59off these people.
18:59So the house
19:01isn't a financial
19:02product
19:03but the mortgage
19:04that you've taken
19:05out to buy it
19:06did become
19:07a financial product
19:08which was bought
19:09and sold.
19:10You would become
19:11a bit of a plaything
19:12in financial markets.
19:15Right through
19:15the first half
19:16of 2007
19:18those of us
19:18in the Bank of England
19:19were worried
19:20about the signs
19:21that we were seeing
19:22about excessive
19:23borrowing.
19:23Good evening.
19:30Thousands of customers
19:31have been queuing up
19:32outside branches
19:33of the troubled
19:34mortgage lender
19:35Northern Rock
19:35to withdraw their money.
19:37There were lines
19:39in Nottingham
19:40Hull
19:41and London.
19:43Nobody's given
19:44an absolute guarantee
19:45that the money
19:45is safe
19:46in this bank.
19:48I don't think
19:49we could have
19:50anticipated
19:50precisely the timing
19:52and the nature
19:53of the events
19:54that would have
19:54prevented it
19:55from occurring
19:56but warnings
19:57we certainly
19:58wanted to give
19:59and we did.
20:01Shares have plummeted
20:02around the world
20:03billions wiped
20:04off their value.
20:05Central banks
20:06among them
20:06the Bank of England
20:07are pouring funds
20:08into financial markets.
20:10Mortgages are
20:11in short supply
20:12and more and more
20:13people are falling
20:14behind with their
20:14payments
20:15added to which
20:16every single day
20:17seems to bring
20:18a new piece of
20:19bad news
20:19from America.
20:23we wanted to put
20:26in place
20:27a number of measures
20:28to make sure
20:29the economy
20:30did not stall
20:31or worse
20:32go into depression
20:33but also
20:35we wanted to make sure
20:37that people weren't
20:37fearful of losing
20:38their own homes
20:38or facing unemployment
20:40which is why
20:41we put in place
20:42a number of measures
20:43including measures
20:44to support the housing market.
20:46Governments
20:46gain popularity
20:48by pushing
20:49home ownership
20:50and see it
20:51and have done
20:51for a long time
20:52as the holy grail.
20:54Now the problem
20:55with that
20:56is when home ownership
20:57slows
20:57it's because
20:58the markets
20:59are slowing.
21:00There was an
21:01absolute fear
21:02of house prices
21:04falling
21:04and the loss
21:06the flow through
21:07of the impact
21:08that has
21:09on our banking sector
21:11given the size
21:12of mortgage debt
21:14of the impact
21:15that has
21:15on economic activity.
21:17I'm off to Sussex
21:19to meet a couple
21:19who can't afford
21:21their new mortgage
21:21and selling
21:22would mean losing money
21:23because of the collapse
21:24in house prices.
21:26They're desperate.
21:27I feel a bit
21:28that my fingers
21:28have been burnt
21:29for something
21:29I haven't done
21:30you know
21:30I've just been
21:31happily paying
21:31my mortgage
21:32and all of a sudden
21:33we're in this situation
21:35and it's quite harsh
21:36to take.
21:47What we had in 2009
21:51was a very unusual situation
21:53the amount of money
21:54was going down
21:55and we didn't want
21:56that to continue
21:57because that might have
21:58led to a repetition
21:59of the Great Depression
22:00in the 1930s
22:02so we printed
22:03using quantitative easing
22:05more money
22:06in order to ensure
22:07that the amount of money
22:09in the economy
22:09in total
22:10was great.
22:12It was initially
22:16an experiment
22:17I think people
22:19didn't fully understand
22:20what it was going
22:21to achieve
22:22I think many of us
22:23agreed it was
22:24necessary to try it.
22:28It's a very simple idea
22:30which is
22:30quantitative easing
22:31increases the amount
22:32of money in the economy
22:33and that will increase
22:35asset prices
22:36and in turn
22:36will ultimately
22:38lead to more spending.
22:40If it runs on
22:41the risk is
22:42you start inflating
22:43asset prices
22:44heist prices
22:45and that's something
22:49that's not good
22:50for the economy
22:50as a whole
22:51and you know
22:52I think at that time
22:53we thought
22:53well this will all
22:54get wound up.
23:00£300,000
23:01could buy you
23:03a flat
23:03or a house
23:04at a push
23:05but not in Belgravia
23:06£300,000
23:07is how much
23:08the average property
23:10in the area
23:10went up by
23:11last year.
23:17The size of new mortgages
23:19could be limited
23:20to just three times
23:21your salary
23:22and borrowers
23:23could be told
23:24they need bigger savings
23:25to get a home loan.
23:27It's going to take us
23:28forever
23:28to be able to get a house
23:29and the only option
23:31would be to rent.
23:33I moved to London
23:34from Leeds
23:35in 2010
23:35and I was really shocked
23:38by how high rents were.
23:42There was this sort of idea
23:43after the financial crash
23:45that housing
23:46was more affordable
23:47but that never found
23:48its way
23:49to private rents.
23:51It never found its way
23:52to people on lower
23:53or middle incomes.
23:54I think the people
23:54that really benefited
23:56were people
23:57who had the money
23:58to come in
23:58and buy up
23:59the now cheaper houses
24:01which ordinary folks
24:02couldn't afford still.
24:04The average first-time buyer
24:06will have to wait
24:06until they're in their 50s
24:08before they can even
24:09afford a deposit.
24:10The woman there
24:11on the right.
24:12What about young professionals
24:13who can't access
24:14social housing?
24:15We can't rent
24:16because the rents are too high
24:17and we can't get
24:18on the property ladder.
24:19Social housing
24:20was being squeezed,
24:21home ownership
24:22was being squeezed
24:23and more and more people
24:24were being housed
24:25in the private rented sector.
24:33The group that didn't benefit
24:35which normally would have done
24:37would have been those
24:38that are waiting to buy.
24:40The cycle of house prices falling
24:44so people selling homes
24:46so homes go on the market
24:47so there's an excess supply
24:49of homes
24:49so house prices fall etc.
24:51That process did not happen.
24:56The crash did bring
24:57a slight decrease in prices
24:58but that still wasn't enough
24:59and that's because
25:00the underlying issues
25:01didn't change.
25:03The makeup of the housing market
25:04if you like
25:05stayed the same.
25:06There still wasn't enough supply.
25:07There still wasn't
25:08a level playing field.
25:15I am married.
25:16My husband is an accountant
25:18and we have two children.
25:19We work really hard
25:21and between us
25:22have a good joint wage.
25:24Yet still
25:24we cannot afford
25:25our own family home.
25:27Well Anna,
25:27this is one of the things
25:28that I,
25:28along with immigration actually,
25:29that I probably hear about
25:30more than anything else
25:31as I travel around the country.
25:33The house building industry
25:34has really not served us well
25:36in this country.
25:37We've also got to build
25:39more houses.
25:40I think there's no doubt
25:41in my mind
25:42that we've got to change
25:43the planning system
25:44right now.
25:4711 hours,
25:4840 minutes after
25:49the polling stations
25:49closed,
25:50it is a hung parliament.
25:51Mathematically,
25:52no party
25:53can now get
25:53an overall majority
25:55and so
25:56there will have to be
25:57negotiations
25:57over what happens
25:58now
25:59about who
26:00becomes
26:00our next Prime Minister.
26:02Earlier today,
26:04standing by the front door
26:05of number 10,
26:06Prime Minister David Cameron
26:07and his deputy
26:08Nick Clegg
26:09shook hands.
26:10Mr Cameron said
26:11they were ushering in
26:12a new era
26:13in which the national interest
26:14came before party politics.
26:25It's not just about
26:27the economy,
26:28it's also about
26:29people's hopes and dreams.
26:31We will provide
26:31hundreds of thousands
26:33of new homes
26:34for families to live in
26:36and that's what
26:36today is all about.
26:38David believed
26:40that extending
26:41home ownership,
26:42the idea
26:43of a property-owning
26:44democracy,
26:45the idea
26:46of spreading
26:47ownership more widely
26:48was good
26:49for society
26:49overall.
26:56I was
26:57heading up
26:57the city's policy unit.
26:59If you think
27:00about the work
27:00that had been put in
27:01from the Barker Review,
27:02which had very much
27:04taken us to
27:04housing supply
27:06and the coalition
27:07government came in
27:08and said
27:08we've got to get
27:09the market working better,
27:10the answer to that
27:11is planning.
27:14So a huge set
27:15of planning reforms
27:16in order to
27:17essentially
27:17give developers
27:19maximum ability
27:20and right
27:22to build
27:23and build at scale.
27:23I was given
27:31a task
27:32to produce
27:32a national planning
27:33policy framework
27:34for the first time.
27:36I wondered
27:36what the best way
27:37to approach
27:38that was.
27:39Miata Fambula
27:40was the brilliant
27:41official
27:42who was
27:44in the cabinet office.
27:45We were trying
27:46to essentially
27:48completely revise
27:49the national planning
27:51policy framework.
27:51Now, this was a framework
27:53that ran into the thousands
27:54of pages
27:55that the government
27:56was trying to
27:57do a massive overhaul of
27:59to make it simpler,
28:00to make it more digestible,
28:02but also to make it work
28:03in the interest
28:04of those that build.
28:06The key provision
28:07was that there was
28:08what we called
28:08a presumption in favour
28:10of sustainable development.
28:12The response,
28:13I think,
28:15did take us all
28:16by surprise.
28:16This country
28:18is crawling
28:19with hysterical,
28:20nihilistic people.
28:22According to the
28:22coalition government,
28:23they include
28:24the members
28:24of the National Trust,
28:25Friends of the Earth,
28:27the Royal Society
28:27for the Protection of Birds
28:29and the Bat Conservation Trust.
28:31These deranged organisations,
28:33that seems to be
28:33the judgment of ministers,
28:35are furious at plans
28:36by the government
28:37to allow concrete
28:38to be laid
28:38in the countryside.
28:40It's the most biased document
28:41I've ever seen.
28:42It's not a planning document,
28:43it's a lobbying document.
28:44This is simply not true.
28:45If you read the document
28:46in detail,
28:47you will see that
28:47the protections
28:48that we've enjoyed...
28:49I invite your viewers
28:52to look at it in detail.
28:53I'm not a nihilistic
28:55left-winger.
28:57I remember the response
28:59vividly,
29:00because I think
29:00when the National Trust
29:01mobilises,
29:02it sends terror
29:03through Whitehall
29:04and it certainly sends terror
29:05through Conservative MPs.
29:08I think we underestimated
29:10the extent to which
29:11the radicalism
29:12of the document
29:14would spook people.
29:18Yeah, hello.
29:19Hi, can I say hello?
29:20I'm Sergeant Jarrod.
29:21Hi.
29:21Hello.
29:21Hello.
29:22I'm watching policy on housing.
29:24Yeah, what, in general?
29:25Conservative policy on housing.
29:28As a constituency MP,
29:30housing was a big issue.
29:33I would receive
29:35in my mailbag,
29:35in my surgeries,
29:37was being contacted
29:39by people
29:40that were almost always
29:42against new housing.
29:44The central problem is
29:47we have too many people
29:48that don't want new housing
29:50in their backyard,
29:52in their neighbourhood,
29:53because they feel
29:55it will affect
29:55their house price
29:56or that, you know,
29:57it's going to spoil
29:58their view,
29:58and that is what motivates
30:00them more
30:01than thinking about
30:02the next generation.
30:04The only way you make
30:04a real difference
30:05to the housing stock
30:06is by building
30:06on greenbelt land.
30:07The answer from the neighbours
30:09is not on my doorstep.
30:10Would you like to see
30:10greenbelt land built on?
30:12Er, not on my doorstep.
30:14I was giving a speech
30:27and I was sort of
30:28summoned out for a call
30:29with the Prime Minister.
30:30He wanted to appoint
30:31me planning minister.
30:33I turned up
30:33at the department.
30:35Eric Pickles,
30:35who didn't know me
30:36particularly well
30:37and I think probably
30:38didn't have a huge amount
30:40of sympathy for me,
30:42viewed me with
30:42intense suspicion.
30:44as some narc
30:45who'd been sent in
30:46by the Chancellor
30:47to mark his homework.
30:49I love Nick very much.
30:55I didn't ask for him
30:56and I think he found
30:59it very difficult.
31:00Idealism came up
31:01against the sheer
31:02practicalities
31:03of the nature of politics.
31:07I took the view
31:08that I didn't have
31:09very long
31:10to get stuff done.
31:12I had two points
31:15we were trying
31:15to get across.
31:16The first point was
31:18not very much
31:19of England
31:20is built on
31:20even though
31:22it doesn't always
31:23feel like that
31:24when you're driving
31:24down suburban roads.
31:26And then the second point
31:28we were trying
31:28to get across
31:29was that
31:30new housing developments
31:32can be great.
31:34My husband and I
31:35work as carers
31:37in the community
31:37and we still
31:38can't reach
31:40getting a deposit
31:41together for the mortgage,
31:43paying the monthly rent
31:45with four children.
31:46Your situation
31:47is absolutely
31:49typical I'm afraid
31:51and it's
31:51a huge national crisis.
31:54For my money
31:55I think it's the biggest
31:56social justice
31:57crisis we have.
31:59Building on a few
31:59meadows outside Harlow
32:00is not going to cure
32:01the housing crisis.
32:03There are plenty
32:03of empty buildings
32:04there's plenty of sites
32:05with planning permission
32:06existing which haven't
32:07been used yet.
32:08You know home ownership
32:08sank by five percentage
32:10points in the last
32:11decade in England.
32:12The problem with housing
32:13in this country
32:13is this is
32:14How many homes do you own?
32:15Can I finish?
32:15How many homes do you own?
32:17This is not about one individual.
32:18I'm paying for your houses.
32:19Bloody hell.
32:20Now fortunately
32:21I had decided
32:22quite early on
32:23that the only way
32:24this was going to work
32:26was if I was willing
32:27to take an unlimited
32:28amount of heat.
32:29I remember the headline
32:33of the front page
32:34splash of the Daily Telegraph
32:36Ministers War on the Countryside.
32:39It was exhausting.
32:40I mean it was really
32:41really exhausting.
32:44But hey
32:44you know
32:45I was young
32:46and ambitious.
32:49Well it's a great thinker
32:50isn't Nick
32:50but he decided
32:51to announce
32:52a massive house building
32:54programme
32:55the weekend
32:56of the Conservative
32:57councillors
32:58annual conference
33:00so I spent quite a bit
33:01of my morning
33:02on the Saturday
33:03talking to him
33:04on the telephone
33:06to see exactly
33:07what he was doing.
33:08I think that
33:09the difficulty
33:10that the Conservative
33:11Party has
33:12is that
33:13it weighs up
33:15against each other.
33:18On the one hand
33:19the people
33:20that they know
33:22vote for them
33:23who live in
33:24who live in
33:25agreeable houses
33:26with views
33:28of green fields
33:29and who might be
33:30members of the
33:31local Conservative
33:31Association
33:32and then a
33:33theoretical group
33:35of people
33:35who are in their
33:3620s and 30s
33:38they have no idea
33:39how they vote
33:40they rather suspect
33:41that they probably
33:41don't vote Conservative.
33:43I have reached
33:44a conclusion
33:45which is that
33:45the Conservative Party
33:46is never going
33:48to do what is
33:49necessary
33:49to meet the
33:50housing needs
33:51of the British
33:51people
33:52and it will
33:53never put
33:55sufficient weight
33:56on the interests
33:57of those
33:58who currently
33:59do not have
34:00a place to live.
34:14You have the
34:14conversation with
34:15developers
34:16and what they
34:16will tell you
34:17is why would
34:18we build
34:19why would we
34:19flood the market
34:20with housing
34:20it doesn't work
34:21for our business
34:22model because in
34:22the end that
34:24model relies on
34:25the fact that
34:26demand outstrips
34:27supply and
34:28therefore prices
34:29are always
34:30increasing and
34:31you can generate
34:31a return.
34:38The business
34:39model of the
34:40house building
34:40sector has always
34:41been to drip
34:42feed new supply.
34:44You don't want
34:44to move into
34:45increasing supply
34:46and flooding the
34:48market.
34:48we noticed in
34:50Taylor Wimpy's
34:512011 report
34:52a line that
34:53would easily
34:54be skimmed
34:54over but is
34:55really significant
34:56and that is
34:57that their
34:58strategy was to
34:59prioritise margin
35:00over volume
35:01and what that
35:02essentially means
35:03is that you
35:04grow the sale
35:05price, you grow
35:06the margin of
35:07profit on each
35:07home rather than
35:09commensurately
35:10building more
35:10housing.
35:12You're making
35:12your money through
35:13price increases
35:14rather than
35:15increased output
35:16and that's
35:17really significant
35:18that really
35:18revealed the
35:20strategy.
35:22So what that
35:23waits to is that
35:24you can increase
35:25profitability by
35:26increasing the
35:27amount that you
35:27charge and the
35:28profit you can
35:29make on each
35:29home rather than
35:31simply increasing
35:32profit by building
35:33a lot more.
35:34developers absolutely
35:47reduce the number
35:48of homes that
35:49they build out in
35:50order to keep
35:51prices and profits
35:52at a level that
35:53they believe is
35:54necessary in order
35:56to ensure that
35:56they get an
35:57appropriate return
35:57on investment.
35:59Coming out of the
36:00financial crisis we
36:01were pretty keen to
36:02match our volume
36:03with a combination
36:03of market demand
36:04and land
36:05availability and
36:05planning availability.
36:08The key thing for
36:09making a difference
36:10to the housing
36:10crisis is about
36:11number of houses
36:12built but it's
36:13number of houses
36:13built over 10
36:14years, over 20
36:15years, over 30
36:15years not the
36:16number of houses
36:17built before the
36:18next general
36:18election.
36:22Hello good
36:22evening.
36:23Flat, stagnant
36:24and sluggish.
36:25Now that's just
36:26what the optimists
36:27are saying.
36:27The rest are
36:28warning the economy
36:29faces a triple dip
36:30recession the first
36:31the country has seen
36:32in modern times.
36:34The latest figures
36:34show the country's
36:35economy shrank by
36:360.3%, numbers that
36:38will increase the
36:39pressure on George
36:39Osborne to come up
36:40with a plan B and
36:42bluntly to make it
36:43grow again.
36:50We were in a
36:51situation then where
36:53first-time buyers
36:54were effectively being
36:55shut out because they
36:56didn't have the 20%
36:58deposit that would be
37:00needed to be able to
37:01get a mortgage to buy
37:03a property.
37:03I had many
37:04conversations with
37:05people in the industry
37:07as well as with other
37:08politicians and
37:10certainly the big
37:12housing developers
37:13always made the case
37:15that we would get
37:16more houses built if
37:18the housing market was
37:20booming and if demand
37:22was strong and that's
37:25why they favoured what
37:26were effectively
37:27mortgage subsidies to
37:29keep up demand.
37:38In March 2013, the day
37:42before the budget, I got a
37:44call from our trade body
37:46to say, Andrew, just to
37:51be aware what you're
37:53going to see tomorrow
37:54is a new scheme on
37:56steroids.
37:58Today I can announce
37:59help to buy.
38:01It's a great deal for
38:02homebuyers.
38:03It's a great support to
38:04homebuilders.
38:05A deposit of just 5% is
38:08needed for a new build of
38:09up to £600,000.
38:11The government lends the
38:13purchaser a 20% equity loan,
38:15meaning they just need to
38:17secure a 75% mortgage.
38:20And from January,
38:21Help to Buy will be
38:22offering a mortgage
38:23guarantee scheme.
38:25It's this part of the
38:26scheme which will provide
38:27£130 billion worth of
38:30mortgages.
38:30We just really wanted to
38:46get out, get our own
38:47place, own our own
38:50property.
38:51So we've been saving and
38:54if obviously we'd had to
38:56save up for the 10%, it
38:58would have took us longer.
39:00We didn't want to have to
39:01spend every less penny we
39:02aren't on an house what we
39:05couldn't really afford to
39:06pay 10% on.
39:08That scheme, which I used
39:10myself, encouraged people
39:12not only to take on
39:14mortgages but help to buy
39:16loans from the government,
39:17which when you start
39:18repaying them, as I just
39:19have, are not cheap to
39:20repay.
39:21And the interest rates are
39:22inflation linked.
39:23I've since actually
39:24interviewed one of George
39:25Osborne's advisors who
39:27worked on the Help to Buy
39:28scheme.
39:28I told him that I used it.
39:29I was like, oh, but surely
39:30you've paid off your loan.
39:32I was like, no.
39:33If I had £200,000 in the
39:35bank, do you think I would
39:37have taken a government
39:37loan?
39:38It's a huge amount of
39:39money.
39:40It's more money than most
39:41people will ever see in one
39:42go in their entire lives.
39:44I think it's pretty clear
40:02that if you simply try to
40:04give people money to buy
40:06houses, then what you do is
40:07push up the prices.
40:09I made that clear both
40:10privately and publicly.
40:11And if the idea was to do
40:13something to deal with a
40:15very short run problem, but
40:17it's only a short run
40:18scheme, well, OK, but it
40:21cannot be seen as part of a
40:22long run policy.
40:24There was an argument going
40:25on with government.
40:26I sort of had a public
40:27argument with the Treasury
40:28about this, about using
40:30techniques like help to buy,
40:32aggravating the problem, not
40:34solving it.
40:35Some of it is often
40:36cannibalizing.
40:37It's self-defeating, often
40:39increasing the price of
40:40properties by more than the
40:42amount you help people get
40:43on the housing ladder in the
40:44first place.
40:45They've been helped to buy a
40:47house that's more expensive
40:48than it would have been had
40:48they not had the
40:49inflationary effect.
40:50It's really helped that
40:51people already own their
40:52homes because they've had a
40:53little boost to their
40:54capital value of their
40:55home.
40:59You know, George Osborne
41:00was always motivated by the
41:03politics as well as the
41:06fundamental issue.
41:07So, yes, he saw that a little
41:09housing boom would be good for
41:12the economy.
41:13It would be good for people's
41:15sense of well-being and it
41:17would be good for the chances
41:18of the Conservative Party at the
41:21next election.
41:22I've no doubt that the help to buy
41:25scheme did have some incidental
41:27benefits.
41:28I'm sure a few more houses were
41:30built and a few more people did
41:32get on the housing ladder.
41:34But its main impact was in
41:36pushing up the price of
41:37housing, kicking away the
41:40ladder that middle-income
41:42families were climbing to get
41:44into the housing market and
41:45enriching directors and
41:47executives of the big property
41:50developers.
41:51Bovis has reported a steep rise in
41:54pre-tax profit.
41:54Another upbeat set of figures
41:56from the housing industry.
41:57The UK's main housebuilders
41:58saw big profits this week.
41:59Big rises in profits at all the
42:01big builders.
42:02Some say it could be down to the
42:03government's help to buy scheme.
42:04You might remember that allows
42:06profit is kind of bursting into
42:08kind of new territory, if you
42:10like, to historically
42:11unprecedented levels.
42:13So prior to the financial crisis,
42:16housebuilders were generating
42:18around £2 billion of
42:19profit before tax a year.
42:21What we saw was by 2015,
42:25profit before tax for the big
42:26housebuilders was around £3.5
42:28billion.
42:28I think the problem with help to buy
42:43is that it was continued for too
42:45long.
42:46It was the right intervention to
42:48make to kickstart a recovery in
42:51housebuilding coming out of the
42:53deep financial crash and then a
42:55pretty deep recession.
42:57But what happened, and that's why
42:59people called it cocaine for
43:00housebuilders, is that the
43:02housebuilders became hooked on it.
43:10They are large asset managers,
43:13pension funds from other
43:14countries, and interestingly they
43:17have shareholdings in multiple
43:19housebuilding firms, some of them
43:21in almost all, when we started to
43:25look at dividends, piecing
43:27together the bits of information
43:29for each housebuilder.
43:31The scale of increase in dividends
43:33over this time is so
43:34extraordinary, we've maybe got this
43:36wrong, and so we went back just as a
43:39check that we were correct, which we
43:43were.
43:43Before the financial crisis what we
43:49saw was dividend payments
43:50collectively among the big house
43:52builders was in the three to four
43:54hundred million range, so by 2015 it
43:58was a billion pounds, by 2017 it was
44:011.8 billion pounds, and by 2019 our
44:05estimates are that it was around 2.5
44:08billion pounds. Now to put that into
44:10context, that equates to the sum that
44:13was being spent around that time by
44:16our major government affordable
44:17housebuilding program, equated to
44:19just the dividends that those eight
44:22companies could pay out.
44:31If your aim is to maximise shareholder
44:33value, then you look for the prime
44:35sites and you look for the
44:37houses which are going to accrue the
44:39better returns, which might be the
44:40more expensive end of the spectrum.
44:43The impact of this on new home
44:44buyers is buyers are going to have
44:46to buy for over and above what they
44:48would have done pre-crash.
44:56Rachel in Manchester has been saving
44:59for ten years but says prices are
45:01racing away from her.
45:03Property prices are really inflated
45:06compared to what you actually earn.
45:09On a normal salary, I'm not sure how
45:10I'm expected to be able to get a
45:12mortgage.
45:13The property boom is now rippling
45:15far beyond London.
45:16It's just impossible, to be honest,
45:18to be able to get on the housing ladder.
45:19Of the most unaffordable places to
45:21live in the UK, around half are in
45:23the countryside.
45:25We would hear about people from the
45:26Midlands, from the West Country,
45:28from Scotland, from all over really.
45:30We would hear about people who were
45:32really struggling, you know, couldn't
45:33afford their own home and felt powerless
45:35and felt really cross about the state
45:38of things.
45:44The International Monetary Fund has
45:45warned that ever-increasing house
45:47prices could threaten the recovery.
45:49Every year, the IMF doctors the world
45:52economy pops in for a home visit to
45:54check all's well.
45:55This year, there were warnings that the
45:57housing market presented a potential
45:59threat.
46:00Keeping interest rates low could
46:03further fuel house prices and
46:06increase risks to financial stability.
46:15Everybody has got used to super low
46:18interest rates.
46:19House prices are so many times more
46:22than people's earnings.
46:25What we've lived through is a
46:27complete, unprecedented, and nominally,
46:30300-year historic lows.
46:34I think we were lulled into a
46:36completely false sense of security by
46:39thinking that interest rates could
46:40always stay low.
46:41I think that's a mistake.
46:43Let me spell it out.
46:45Does the housing market pose an
46:47immediate threat to financial
46:49stability today?
46:51No, it doesn't.
46:53Could it in the future?
46:54Yes, it could.
46:57This low interest rate regime is
46:59inflating house prices.
47:02And rather than pushing back on this
47:04cycle, governments have done the
47:05opposite.
47:06They've said, oh, there's a problem
47:08with the market and not enough people
47:10can get on the housing ladder.
47:12The growing demand for housing has to
47:15be met by growing supply.
47:17The alternative, as in any market, is
47:20that prices will rise so that homes become
47:22unaffordable to many of our citizens and
47:25take up ever more of their incomes.
47:36Local authorities in England can
47:38compel developers to build some
47:40affordable housing.
47:41Now, affordable means that they're
47:43within the reach of local people on
47:45average salaries.
47:52You'll continue to see the development of
47:55great affordable housing for people in
47:57this city.
47:58Ready?
47:59In hereby fearing this wonderful, new,
48:04fantastic addition to London's growing
48:07quotient of affordable housing open.
48:11I was approached by Boris Johnson to
48:16become his chief of staff and also to
48:20take responsibility for the planning
48:21department.
48:23And so it was one of those jobs when
48:25you're offered it, you take about 30
48:27seconds to consider the pros and cons and
48:29say yes.
48:31His big concern was numbers.
48:34How do you get more housing?
48:36It wasn't just about affordable housing,
48:38council housing, or anything else.
48:41It was all stock.
48:43We had a number of key regeneration areas,
48:46places like Battersea Nine Elms.
48:51It was the Nine Elms and Battersea
48:53power station development was the most
48:55physical example of like the massive
48:57changes that were taking place in the
48:58city.
48:59And you've got the state and the
49:00government, both at local and national
49:01levels and at city hall saying, what we're
49:04going to do is this is going to be private
49:06led, largely because councils were under
49:10this incredible financial pressure
49:12because of austerity.
49:14So we had to find new developers, new
49:17sources of money.
49:18So that was all about going out to all the
49:21different markets and saying London is
49:23open for business.
49:34It's a place designed to attract the global
49:38community.
49:39The question though is whether this type of
49:42urban regeneration benefits ordinary
49:44Londoners.
49:47A private developer business model is to try
49:49and maximize their profit.
49:51When you ask them to deliver affordable housing
49:54alongside on the site, they get planning
49:56permission on a certain amount of affordable
49:58homes.
49:59But then they can turn around and say, oh, I
50:01don't think I'm going to make profit anymore.
50:03So can I cut back on the affordable homes?
50:05Or can I get rid of them altogether?
50:08Let's talk about 9Ms for a second because I
50:12think it's a good example of the challenges
50:14that we were facing.
50:16You couldn't get there.
50:19I remember the early discussions.
50:20We talked to Network Rail.
50:22We started to think about extending the
50:24Northern line.
50:25Now, the thing is that was about a billion
50:28pounds to do that.
50:29And then we needed about a billion for the rest of the
50:33infrastructure that was needed.
50:34Now, when you've done that kind of sum, you haven't got a lot
50:38left for affordable housing.
50:39They're spending more than a billion pounds on restoring the
50:43power station itself.
50:44From Shanghai to Singapore, Battersea's just gone on sale
50:48around the world.
50:49A global marketing push launched by its Malaysian owners last month.
50:53I mean, people complain about the price of some of those
50:58properties, but I'm afraid if you're not going to sell a penthouse
51:02replacement for a few billion, a few million, sorry, you're not going
51:06to be able to afford to build some of the other affordable housing.
51:29Can you imagine what Nine Elves could have been, that land, if we'd have
51:32just even just got the basics?
51:36Think of all the good that could have happened.
51:39The heart's gone out of battery now.
51:41Very expensive, the property around here.
51:44People feeling squeezed out, and they are feeling squeezed out out of their
51:47homes, out of their areas, and they don't see long-term future for their
51:53children growing up.
51:56Do you ever think, we could have got some more affordable housing out of
51:59them.
52:00Why didn't we do that?
52:01Well, you always ask those kinds of questions, did it go hard enough?
52:07That was always a judgment call.
52:09I'm sure we got some of those a little bit wrong.
52:11I don't think overall we got it badly wrong.
52:15I think we got pretty much everything we wanted.
52:20The developers, they end up with all the power.
52:23It's weighted towards them, it's weighted towards their bottom line.
52:26And that's what we saw, historically.
52:28We saw time and time again, during this period, affordable housing numbers
52:32reduced.
52:33Future generations in England face rising private rents and increased poverty unless more affordable
52:55housing is built.
52:57That's the warning by the charity.
52:59And in 2013, 2014, Oxford didn't build a single affordable dwelling.
53:05Where are the affordable houses you're talking about?
53:07Because they're definitely not in Brighton.
53:09They're probably not in the South East.
53:11I'm going to be in rented accommodation for the rest of my life because I'll never be able
53:14to afford a house.
53:35I'm going to be in the middle of private sector developers.
53:38It's simply not set up to build lots of affordable homes.
53:42But both the Conservative Party and the Labour government under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown
53:48just didn't believe that the public sector could or should be given sufficient funds to go on a major house-building program.
54:03It's not okay to displace people to come in here in the name of progress.
54:10And we need to stop the injustice.
54:13I say zero! I say zero! I say zero! I say zero! I say zero!
54:21I went to this event with people who were, like, organising on housing estates right across Europe.
54:31And I was so shocked to hear them talk about, you know, rampant gentrification eviction, high rents,
54:37displacement of working-class communities.
54:41It was a real eye-opener for me to understand that this wasn't just about a Conservative government
54:46who were kind of pursuing these policies. It was much bigger than this.
54:51I say zero! I say zero! I say zero! I say zero! I say zero! I say zero! I say zero!
55:00Marching through streets that many can't afford to live on,
55:03they called for more affordable and council properties.
55:06Social housing is our right!
55:09In the state! In the state! In the state!
55:12The government knows it faces trench warfare over housing.
55:16Somebody said to me, centuries ago, there were bread riots.
55:20When are there going to be housing riots?
55:22It's time that you put a cap on private rent in. You don't allow foreign investors to come in and buy up all the properties.
55:29As the chief steward, I was under pressure.
55:32There was anger on the March for Homes, and that was good, and that was powerful.
55:36Social housing is our right! Here to stay! Here to play!
55:41The level of public support for what we were doing was just huge, because people were living it.
55:46And if they weren't living it, then their kids were living it, or their grandkids were living it.
55:50This private land was ripping us off.
55:53Something needs to be done about it is social cleansing at its very worst.
55:57We aren't just passive here. We're going to fight back.
56:02People suffer in silence around housing, but the March for Homes has brought people together.
56:09I've just had an audience with Her Majesty the Queen following the dissolution of Parliament.
56:25The general election will be held on May the 7th.
56:30What struck me going into the 2015 election, as a person that was leading our work on housing policy,
56:37was we had a new generation of young renters who weren't going to play by the old rules of the game.
56:45There was a big shift in the debate.
56:48I made the case often that the Conservative Party is ultimately doomed if young people can't get a place to live
56:57and develop a life like their parents did.
57:01When there's an election, politicians always like to talk about housing
57:06and promise that they're going to magic up homes for people.
57:10But I think something else was going on.
57:12The housing crisis at that point was starting to get so bad that it could no longer be ignored.
57:19How about a Britain where a young couple don't have to dream of owning their own home,
57:24but can actually afford to do it?
57:26For so many people, the dream of home ownership is just disappearing into the distance.
57:32That's why we've got a better plan.
57:35The dream of a property owning democracy is alive and we will help you fulfil it.
57:42One of the most fiercely contested elections of recent times has ended
57:46with the Conservatives on course to win a majority.
57:49He's moving back in. David Cameron and his wife Samantha have arrived back in Downing Street,
58:01knowing he has a second term as Prime Minister.
58:05The supply of social housing is shrinking.
58:11House prices are going up. Rents are going up.
58:15Building more homes is critical.
58:18Conditions were absolutely slum-like is the only way I can describe it.
58:22Tonight, a number of banks and lenders have stopped offering new mortgages.
58:26And suddenly we were now at that ticking time bomb explosion period.
58:32What's different about the UK housing market?
58:36The impacts where we build and how we rent our homes?
58:39To watch exclusive insights from government and housing market experts,
58:43go to bbc.co.uk slash Britain's Housing Crisis
58:48and follow the links to The Open University.
58:55You can watch the next episode now on BBC iPlayer, just press red.
59:00Join Amal Rajan and Nick Robinson
59:02as the Today podcast looks at events in Israel and Gaza and asks what next.
59:07Listen now on BBC Sounds.
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