This briefing was initially prepared as a submission to Labour’s National Policy Forum.
UK housing is in crisis. We encourage the next Labour government to look towards ‘street votes’ as an innovative and democratic policy solution that can unlock more secure and affordable housing for all.
The housing problem
As members of Labour for the Long Term, we care about issues that could have a disproportionate negative impact on the future. A restricted housing supply is an underlying issue that affects the future in a myriad of ways. Consequences include reduced potential growth and productivity (one estimate found that bad housing policy costs the economy £600 billion a year); increased inequality over successive generations (as economic growth benefits landowners more than everyone else); higher emissions (through forcing people to move out of cities and commute); and negative effects on well-being.
Street votes: unlocking the housing crisis
Creating secure and affordable housing is a notoriously difficult problem to solve. There are many potential ‘veto players’ who could reject new housing proposals, requiring a democratic policy making approach from the outset.
‘Street votes’ is a cross-partisan policy idea that can help unlock the housing market by letting communities take the lead on enabling additional homes to be built. The central idea is that, instead of imposing blanket upzoning, households on a particular street vote by supermajority to allow more development on that street (within various guidelines). Policies similar to Street Votes have been implemented at a city level in some countries and succeeded, e.g. Tel Aviv and Seoul. Some local areas in the UK have done vaguely similar policies, which were popular. Many Labour figures, community leaders, and housing associations support street votes, including the Chair of the Fabian Society Member Housing Group, Nicky Gavron the Labour former Deputy Mayor of London, and Shreya Nanda of IPPR.
How street votes work
In areas deemed appropriate for such plans, street plans allow residents to decide by two-thirds majority to permit new walkable housing development on their street. Crucially, the financial uplift is shared with the community at large, providing an opt-in incentive and spreading the wealth generated. The process would look something like this:
- Members of the street create a proposal or 'street plan', perhaps working with a housing association or local architect. It can cover both social and private housing.
- This proposal is voted on by all street residents. If two thirds are in favour, the plan is adopted.
- The street plan allows groups of residents to go ahead with redevelopment subject to the rules specified in the proposal.
Benefits
Street plans produce more homes by letting social or private residents decide to allow more homes on their own street. This could deliver hundreds of thousands more homes near public transport in high housing cost areas including London, with residents sharing in the development’s economic benefits. Street votes would also permit the density needed to enable more sustainable neighbourhoods based on active travel. Overall, the increased agglomeration will create more good jobs and stronger growth with less environmental harm.
Safeguards
Numerous safeguards would prevent the scheme from harming other parts of the community, and from creating the sorts of backlash that can come with intensification:
- Small site exemptions from CIL/s.106 or the new levy will not apply to redevelopment through street plans, generating large contributions for local infrastructure that councils may spend as they wish, including social housing.
- On streets of HMOs, landlords must pay tenants on any street at least a year’s rent before using such permissions – and tenants, not landlords, get the vote.
- Existing residents set the rules to ensure the new homes are of good design quality.
- New development will be subject to car-free agreements, protecting the environment and ensuring no increase in congestion.
- Buildings must stay under sloped limits to protect light to neighbours, and heights are limited to levels that will not affect residents on other streets.
- Pre-1918 properties are completely protected to preserve heritage.
Street plans do not disrupt existing planning processes or housing supply - they are purely additional.
Fixing the housing supply problem could lead to huge positive knock-on effects, making housing cheaper, giving people better jobs, a better quality of life, cohesive communities, bigger families and healthier lives. Street votes is a promising addition to the toolkit to get there, and is worth exploring as official Labour policy.
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