Kwajo Tweneboa Addresses New Plans to Boost Housebuilding on Brownfield Sites

The Housing Secretary Michael Gove has announced new planning reforms to boost housebuilding on inner-city brownfield sites. The government has set itself a target of building 300,000 new homes a year in England by the mid-2020s - to tackle a shortage of stock, but so far has not met those numbers. Housing campaigner Kwajo Tweneboa says the Conservative Party 'risk being out of touch' by focusing on building new houses for buyers rather than improving social housing.

Transcript

Interviewer

Today, the government is announcing proposals which it says will overhaul planning laws to help young people get onto the property ladder.

Interviewer

Well, it's hoped making it easier for developers to convert commercial buildings into flats on previously developed land will increase the number of homes being built. But housing campaigner Kweijo Twenibo says the government needs to go further in order to fix the housing crisis. He joins us now. Good morning to you. What do you make of these proposals, then?

Kawjo

Well, I've said from the beginning, we sort of need radical and bold plans to tackle this housing crisis. And, I mean, I completely agree with Michael Gove in regards to brownfield sites and needing to maximise the amount of homes that we're building because of the current housing crisis. I think there has to be a focus when it comes to building on brownfield sites on social housing and constructing social housing, because that's where the housing crisis is most acute. Having said that, I think the conservative party risk being out of touch with sort of young voters and young people.

I mean, they talk about this idea of we need to build more homes and affordable homes for the idea of home ownership, when in fact, there's a lot of young people out there who are worried they're going to be evicted because they can't afford to privately rent, never mind buy their own home off of the back of a cost of living crisis. And we've got 1.4 million people waiting to get onto social housing, waiting to get social housing, and in 2022, we had 2300 people die whilst waiting on council waiting lists. So that's where the crisis is. So, yes, we need to build homes, but we also need to build quality homes. And my worry is that the government potentially may sacrifice the quality of homes and health and safety at the expense of meeting government house building targets.

I mean, in the 6th richest economy in the world, I don't believe that we should be setting a precedent or convert it of converted kebab shops being the sort of new homes for people. We need to be building quality social homes first and foremost, but quality homes across the board. And I think that has to be the priority and awareness that young people are struggling at the moment, this 40 year old rhetoric of home ownership, and it be defining people's wealth and young people's wealth, and that's what they should strive for. I think young people nowadays are more in tune with the fact that housing is a human right and a fundamental right. Now, decent and safe housing is seen as a luxury because loads of people don't have access to it.

Interviewer

Currently, you're saying more affordable social housing.

Kwajo

Yes. I think a lot of people, when we talk about genuinely affordable housing, that costs money.

Interviewer

It does cost money and there's no money today.

Kwajo

Well, it fundamentally does cost money, but I think it's the priority because, like I mentioned, so many people are suffering. That's where they need to be focusing, tackling. First and foremost, there has to be a bottom up approach with this crisis, not home ownership. We've been seeing that for the last 40 years. It hasn't worked over the last 40 years, it's not going to work over the next five. But whilst that's happening, like I mentioned, we've got 1.4 million people on the social housing waiting list. We've got 139,000 homeless kids in England alone. I've been into schools in London where 25% of the kids attending are homeless. In one case, 50% of the kids attending a school. That is where the crisis is and that's where they have to be building the foundations and fixing first.

So, yes, we need to be building on brownfield sites. I believe the government and the conservative government need to be more in tune with the struggles of young people right now. And they have to be more radical and more bold with her approach to tackling this housing crisis, because these plans aren't enough to tackle the scale of the housing crisis, of what we've seen and what is developed over the last 40 years. As I mentioned, we've got the housing.

Minister, Lee Rowley, coming on shortly to talk about this, to outline his plans. Then if you were to have a message to him, to put a point to him about, you know, the key thing that you. You want to see them do, you would like them to understand, what would you say?

Well, it would be to use a common sense approach to this housing crisis, understand where people are suffering and struggling most. That's in the rental sector. The majority of people now are renting across the UK, and that's where the focus needs to be. Give them the opportunity, if they want to, by allowing them to live in affordable housing, to then save and get onto the property ladder. But you can't promise young people, they're not stupid. You can't promise young people, after the next general election, they're going to be able to afford their own homes if they are struggling about being homeless because they can't afford to privately rent or there's no acts social of housing, never mind saving up to get onto the property ladder. It's completely out of touch.

Interviewer

There are lots of young people who are really wanting to buy their own home. And compared to 30 years ago, far fewer people in their twenties and thirties are getting mortgages because house prices are so high. And part of what young people want is to make buying a home more affordable as well.

Kwajo

And that's a fair enough point. I'm sure there are young people out there, but again, for the vast majority, they are struggling at the moment and a lot of them, the majority will be privately renting.

Interviewer

The majority want to privately rent or do they have to privately rent because they can't afford to buy?

Kwajo

Yeah, exactly. I think. Well, I think if there was affordability, if there was stability and security in renting in this country, then people and young people would be happy to do that. But there's this notion that we have to own our own home. Housing is being seen as an asset, and I think that's the problem with rhetoric by government. We need to be looking at access to housing as a fundamental to everyone's lives across the country, instead of just fundamentally looking at it as accumulation of wealth and defining our success.

Interviewer

Thank you, Kwajo.