Rachel Cox, Oxford Socialist Party
This winter, the housing crisis has reached new lows. A recent Crisis report uncovered the number of over-55s applying for homelessness has risen by 50% in the past five years. The same report also said that “nearly half (47%) of older people with low incomes said that they would have nowhere to go if they lost their home”. Young and older workers alike are feeling the brunt of the crisis.
This situation isn’t set to dramatically improve. Private rents still take up 44% of average wages, despite the recent slowing of housing price rises to 1.8% over 2025. This was driven by fears around Trump’s tariffs and property tax changes. Uncertainty around property bubbles and speculation points to the dodgy state of the economy. The UK and global economies are ticking time bombs, and when they go off, the capitalist class will try to make the working class pay for their crisis, which will exacerbate sky-high rents and lack of investment already seen.
It’s more profitable for the bosses in many instances to squeeze value out of existing stock than to build more housing. Their solution? Slash regulations, destroy green zones, and lower quality to maximise profits instead of providing us all with places to live.
There is another way – a socialist way. Liverpool council in the 80s, led by the Socialist Party’s predecessor Militant, took on Margaret Thatcher and built thousands of council houses. Today we need council housing that is affordable, safe, and eco-friendly. Standing pro-working class candidates in this May’s elections is an important part of the campaign for decent affordable housing. Such candidates could make much greater ground than in previous years, and find support for a programme of mass council house building and demanding the funds required for this and all the services lost to austerity from central government. These campaigns, fought for alongside trade unions and community groups, could win the resources we need from this weak Labour government.
Workers and young people are looking for an alternative to the capitalist system which leaves us with dangerous and decaying housing, low pay and high rents. A socialist society, in which the wealth and resources could be democratically used to provide for all, would end the housing crisis. Join the Socialist Party’s fight for a better future and an end to poverty.
