By Kirsty Bartholomew
(Submitted as part of the Open Politics Student Blogs)

Building just enough homes for the UK’s growing population is just a plaster on a much deeper wound. Fixing the housing crisis is more than putting roofs over people’s heads - it's about addressing the pain our economy, health services and society are all feeling.

Choice in where people live gives stability, but many don’t have that choice and the consequences are stretching far beyond individual households.

Investing in housing, specifically social housing, isn’t just a nice idea. It’s a foundation for a ripple effect that helps everyone.

Rebuilding the social contract

Picture the post-war housing estates. Built through policies like the 1946 New Towns Act, they were more than just houses. Designed to support ‘balanced communities’ with jobs, schools, healthcare and a mix of incomes nearby, they created stability and choice. Choosing social housing gave affordability with freedom to save, raise a family, or pursue new opportunities alongside.

Back then social homes weren’t only for the poorest; they were a universal offer.

But decades of sell offs from the Right to Buy Scheme,and failure to replenish stock have created a crisis. While anyone can, in theory, apply for a social home, in many areas they can wait decades. Realistically few will get the choice earlier generations had.

As availability shrinks, more people are pushed into private renting – with 24% receiving housing support the state foots the bill. That public money often flows to landlords and finance companies where it cannot be reinvested into public assets. Many private landlords require guarantors from benefit claimants or low-income households – but one in three renters struggle to provide one adding pressure to the housing system and locking out the poorest.

The social contract is fraying

Here lies another challenge: we’re paying into a system that should catch us when we fall. A safety net for times of need - but increasingly even that net feels unavailable. Not just for us, but for families and communities.

This creates space for myths and blame to take root with benefit claimants and immigrants often targeted It’s not surprising: when people get locked out, they seek answers and that can turn into finger-pointing.

And so, the social contract starts to fray. Being shut out of something as fundamental as housing causes trust in that system to be lost.

If people believed that they, or their loved ones, could access support if they needed it, investment in the system would feel worthwhile. Real choice would ease concerns over who gets help because they'd know they could get it too.

The unseen financial benefits of social housing

The ripple effect from having enough housing isn’t just about fairness, it's also about addressing the hidden costs of reliance on the private sector.

Take mental health: 9 in 10 private renters say their housing situation negatively affects it. This has a staggering price tag, costing the UK economy over £300 billion annually when considering NHS spending and workplace sickness.

The security of a home fulfils the most basic of needs, but many renters don’t have it. With little choice, or stability, mental health suffers. Worries about eviction, high rent and even reporting repairs compound the stress.

These concerns aren’t unfounded. Rental contracts expire, landlords sell up, or personalities clash. Private renters can find themselves looking for a new home more often than social renters and owner occupiers.

Take employment next: employers also lose out when workers cannot stay in jobs due to being forced to relocate. Hiring and training replacement staff is costly, disrupting long term growth. If people could stay rooted in communities and their roles it benefits businesses and the economy. Finding another rental home nearby isn’t always easy. Demand continues to outstrip supply, with an average of 12 people chasing every rental property. With so few options, something needs to give. That might be work, school places, continuity of health service care or loss of a long-standing customer for a local business. The impact can be felt everywhere.

Of course, governments have budget restraints and building social homes doesn't come cheap. But long-term inaction from earlier governments is now costing us economically. This is why genuine choice of access to social housing offers not only stability for individuals and families but also a stabilising force for the nation.

Choosing the way forward

While not every impact of poor housing policy has a price tag attached, it’s clear that good housing policy benefits everyone. We’ve lost many of those benefits - with catastrophic results such as rising mental health and a fraying social contract

But if we treat social housing as a national asset, and reinvest in ourselves, then we can rebuild something we haven’t had in a long time: choice.

And with that choice we get hope, stability and dignity – not just for individuals, but for the country.

Reference list

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Eardley, F. (2022). Right to buy: Past, present and future. [online] House of Lords Library. [Accessed 30 Apr. 2025].

Gov.UK (2024). English Housing Survey 2022 to 2023: Rented Sectors. [online] GOV.UK. [Accessed 30 Apr. 2025].

Lally, C. and McNally, X. (2024). Housing insecurity in the private rented sector in England: drivers and impacts. [online] UK Parliament. [Accessed 30 Apr. 2025].

Legislation.gov.uk. (2025). New Towns Act 1946. [online] [Accessed 30 Apr. 2025].

Murray, J. (2025). Hundred-year wait for family-size social housing in parts of England, study finds. [online] the Guardian. [Accessed 30 Apr. 2025].

Perry, J. (2024). Dispelling myths about migrants and housing. [online] Chartered Institute of Housing. [Accessed 30 Apr. 2025].

Smith, T. (2024). RESEARCH FINDS THAT PRIVATE RENTING HAS A DEVASTATING IMPACT ON TENANTS’ MENTAL HEALTH. [online] Generation Rent. [Accessed 30 Apr. 2025].

Toth, A. (2025). Labour urged to crack down on ‘discriminatory’ guarantor rules which lock renters out. [online] Independent. [Accessed 30 Apr. 2025].

Town & Country Planning celebrating 70 years of the new towns act reflections on what the 1946 New Towns Act achieved and what we can learn from it today contents. (2017). [Accessed 30 Apr. 2025].