A new poll has shown 67% of New Conservative voters, those who elected Conservative MPs for the first time in 2019, believe social housing should be made a government priority.

This is over twice as many as the Shire Tory segment, the more traditional voters.

The poll and research was conducted by the Centre for Social Justice. They say this now shows there “is no simple left-right divide in England on what is known today as ‘social housing’, following the seismic realignments in political affiliation seen in recent years.”

Given the scale of disillusionment over current ‘affordable housing’ policy also revealed in the polling, the CSJ recommend the Government initiates a process of rapid evidence gathering to reshape social and affordable housing policy in the 2020s, with the publication of the Levelling Up white paper.

The research also found:

  • A quarter of the English population said they found it either fairly or very difficult to pay their housing costs, this rising to 43% of private renters;
  • 60% said they think the housing crisis has worsened ‘significantly’ due to the pandemic;
  • less than one in four people (24%) believe the Government’s definition of affordable housing is truly affordable to local people;
  • just under two thirds (63%) believe the Government needs to supply low-cost homes to rent to end the housing crisis;
  • 55% said building social housing should be a priority of the Government;
  • 58% said building more low-cost homes to rent would ‘level up’ the country;
  • 55%of people said ‘affordability’ should be the primary aim of housing policy, while 11% said ‘eventual ownership’; and
  • Across all segments uncovered in the analysis, agreement outweighs disagreement that ‘a robust social housing scheme reduces the strain on health and social services’ – with strong majority support in most segments.

Writing in the foreword, former Prime Minister Theresa May said: “The dysfunction in our housing system is deep-rooted, having developed over multiple decades and under governments of all stripes. Addressing it fully remains one of the fundamental public policy challenges of our time.

“Taxpayers are now picking up the bill for decades of too few truly affordable homes being built. Next year, housing benefit expenditure is forecast to exceed £30bn – and then to double again in the 30 years thereafter as more (and older) households see the more expensive private rented sector as their only option. We must put this right.

“For as I argued while in Downing Street, the focus on helping the ‘just about homeowners’ onto the ladder – vital though this is – has at times distracted from what should be our overwhelming priority as Conservatives: ensuring that everyone has a decent, affordable and secure home in which to live, work and build strong families.

“Rediscovering our tradition of truly affordable housebuilding for the 2020s is what is needed if we are to address the social, economic and fiscal costs of the hidden housing crisis.

“Moreover, as polling evidence presented by the CSJ suggests, this would be in tune with the views and desires of the new electorate as it has realigned in the years following the Referendum.

“So now I call on Conservatives to let us make it our shared mission, once again, to fix this hidden housing crisis as a central plank of our levelling up agenda. And even as we hope to have put the worst of the pandemic behind us, we must never forget just how much home matters.”

You can read the full paper here.