Housing is a human right.
Our housing system is broken. We live in the UK, one of the most developed nations on Earth, and yet we suffer from manufactured scarcity in the housing market, poor quality housing, homelessness, soaring spending on housing benefits and unaffordable rent: a housing crisis. Successive governments have failed to move the needle on this issue, choosing to maintain the status quo instead of making meaningful changes to the way we live.
But, all this time, there has been a simple solution.
Take money out of housing.
Imagine a UK where its citizens collectively and democratically own the housing stock. There would be no need for rent or upfront costs, as everyone would be both tenant and landlord. Repairs, maintenance and upgrading of property would be everyone’s responsibility. The £38.8 billion spent on housing benefit – that is, on paying off landlords’ mortgages – could be reinvested into our other public services in its entirety.
Our role is to prove that this model can work:
- We will build a democratic membership
- We will leverage collective donations and proceeds to purchase property with no loans
- We will upgrade and retrofit this property to modern standards
- We will rent this property at minimum cost and make no profit
- We will not discriminate in who can join us or benefit
Tenants in our houses will have responsibility for and ownership of everything in the property. They will not be allowed to own or profit from any other residential property, or generate any profit from the use of the Collective’s property.
The Collective will have responsibility for insuring the property and aligning it with all required safety standards.
This way, we can keep costs low while giving tenants as much freedom as they would have in a property they purchase, as we believe no-one should have to pay for the privilege of making their house a home.
Together, we will build a country of affordable, collectively-owned housing. We will end the dominance of the housing market, and ensure that everyone has a safe, sustainable place to live. We will boost the economy by freeing up the income that would be spent on rent and the taxes that would be spent on housing benefits.
We will take money out of housing for everyone.