Adam Chinnery: Too many Conservatives accept we need more housing nationally – but oppose it locally
This affects the entire country.
Cllr Adam Chinnery is a councillor for Hutton East on Brentwood Borough Council.
I was elected as a councillor in 2024 in a tight race at the age of 23 and am around 35 years younger than the average Councillor. I also work a full-time corporate job in London alongside my council duties.
Being both a Councillor and a young professional is rewarding and frustrating in equal measure. It is genuinely fulfilling to bring an analytical mindset developed in my line of work to scrutinising reports in a Committee, or to offer a different perspective at Full Council and group meetings. Yet it has also left me with a growing concern: I increasingly feel as though I am living in two very different Britains.
On one evening, I may be speaking with residents or fellow Councillors, many of whom are over 50, financially secure, and deeply rooted in the community after decades of home ownership in the affluent suburban area I represent. The next day, I will be talking with colleagues in London, most under forty, who have little idea how they will ever afford a home, where they might live long-term, or how they will start a family despite often paying the higher rate of income tax and earning above median incomes.
This contrast is striking, and it helps explain why Britain now suffers from such a pronounced generational divide. If we are serious about restoring intergenerational fairness and winning over working-age people to the centre-right, we must first be honest about the scale and causes of the housing crisis.
Since the 1990s, when many councillors in my Borough were already established on the property ladder, housing costs have risen far faster than incomes. Various studies show that average house prices have roughly doubled relative to earnings over this period. Research from the Centre for Policy Studies, for example, found that rents in London increased from around 15 per cent of household income in the 1980s to approximately 40 per cent by 2021. This reflects a national housing shortage that is now estimated at around five million homes.
Demand has clearly risen over time, driven mainly by sustained high levels of legal immigration across two decades. But focusing solely on demand misses the central point: Britain has failed miserably to build enough homes. Reducing the crisis to rhetoric about recent arrivals is neither accurate nor helpful. The real issue is long-term undersupply.
In the Council Chamber, I have been explicit about the need to increase housing supply, using these facts. Encouragingly, this has been met with respect across party lines, and many Councillors privately agree with the need to deliver more housing locally.
I was surprised particularly by some of the private praise from Liberal Democrats, as they now begrudgingly …
This affects the entire country.
Cllr Adam Chinnery is a councillor for Hutton East on Brentwood Borough Council.
I was elected as a councillor in 2024 in a tight race at the age of 23 and am around 35 years younger than the average Councillor. I also work a full-time corporate job in London alongside my council duties.
Being both a Councillor and a young professional is rewarding and frustrating in equal measure. It is genuinely fulfilling to bring an analytical mindset developed in my line of work to scrutinising reports in a Committee, or to offer a different perspective at Full Council and group meetings. Yet it has also left me with a growing concern: I increasingly feel as though I am living in two very different Britains.
On one evening, I may be speaking with residents or fellow Councillors, many of whom are over 50, financially secure, and deeply rooted in the community after decades of home ownership in the affluent suburban area I represent. The next day, I will be talking with colleagues in London, most under forty, who have little idea how they will ever afford a home, where they might live long-term, or how they will start a family despite often paying the higher rate of income tax and earning above median incomes.
This contrast is striking, and it helps explain why Britain now suffers from such a pronounced generational divide. If we are serious about restoring intergenerational fairness and winning over working-age people to the centre-right, we must first be honest about the scale and causes of the housing crisis.
Since the 1990s, when many councillors in my Borough were already established on the property ladder, housing costs have risen far faster than incomes. Various studies show that average house prices have roughly doubled relative to earnings over this period. Research from the Centre for Policy Studies, for example, found that rents in London increased from around 15 per cent of household income in the 1980s to approximately 40 per cent by 2021. This reflects a national housing shortage that is now estimated at around five million homes.
Demand has clearly risen over time, driven mainly by sustained high levels of legal immigration across two decades. But focusing solely on demand misses the central point: Britain has failed miserably to build enough homes. Reducing the crisis to rhetoric about recent arrivals is neither accurate nor helpful. The real issue is long-term undersupply.
In the Council Chamber, I have been explicit about the need to increase housing supply, using these facts. Encouragingly, this has been met with respect across party lines, and many Councillors privately agree with the need to deliver more housing locally.
I was surprised particularly by some of the private praise from Liberal Democrats, as they now begrudgingly …
Adam Chinnery: Too many Conservatives accept we need more housing nationally – but oppose it locally
This affects the entire country.
Cllr Adam Chinnery is a councillor for Hutton East on Brentwood Borough Council.
I was elected as a councillor in 2024 in a tight race at the age of 23 and am around 35 years younger than the average Councillor. I also work a full-time corporate job in London alongside my council duties.
Being both a Councillor and a young professional is rewarding and frustrating in equal measure. It is genuinely fulfilling to bring an analytical mindset developed in my line of work to scrutinising reports in a Committee, or to offer a different perspective at Full Council and group meetings. Yet it has also left me with a growing concern: I increasingly feel as though I am living in two very different Britains.
On one evening, I may be speaking with residents or fellow Councillors, many of whom are over 50, financially secure, and deeply rooted in the community after decades of home ownership in the affluent suburban area I represent. The next day, I will be talking with colleagues in London, most under forty, who have little idea how they will ever afford a home, where they might live long-term, or how they will start a family despite often paying the higher rate of income tax and earning above median incomes.
This contrast is striking, and it helps explain why Britain now suffers from such a pronounced generational divide. If we are serious about restoring intergenerational fairness and winning over working-age people to the centre-right, we must first be honest about the scale and causes of the housing crisis.
Since the 1990s, when many councillors in my Borough were already established on the property ladder, housing costs have risen far faster than incomes. Various studies show that average house prices have roughly doubled relative to earnings over this period. Research from the Centre for Policy Studies, for example, found that rents in London increased from around 15 per cent of household income in the 1980s to approximately 40 per cent by 2021. This reflects a national housing shortage that is now estimated at around five million homes.
Demand has clearly risen over time, driven mainly by sustained high levels of legal immigration across two decades. But focusing solely on demand misses the central point: Britain has failed miserably to build enough homes. Reducing the crisis to rhetoric about recent arrivals is neither accurate nor helpful. The real issue is long-term undersupply.
In the Council Chamber, I have been explicit about the need to increase housing supply, using these facts. Encouragingly, this has been met with respect across party lines, and many Councillors privately agree with the need to deliver more housing locally.
I was surprised particularly by some of the private praise from Liberal Democrats, as they now begrudgingly …
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