The 2017 General Election provided one valuable piece of data the Conservatives must recognise immediately following last June's verdict; that,according to YouGov, those who own a property voted for the Tories in greater numbers than those who rent. With many 'millennials' (people born in between 1981-1999) struggling to buy their own home, they voted for Labour in numbers sufficient enough to deny the Conservatives a majority this year. They may well continue to do so in the near future unless their prospects change.
Many commentators are not optimistic the Government will build enough properties to solve the housing crisis.
They are right; planning laws have not been updated since the last century, and despite the many schemes available to help millennials gain a foothold onto the property ladder, homes in London still remain unaffordable for those under-40s living there.
'Generation Rent denied them victory.'
And now many millennials have grown up resenting their parents and grandparents for having the opportunity to buy a house during the economic conditions Mrs Thatcher created; thereby turning to Corbyn to deliver cheaper properties because, as far as they are concerned, Thatcherism has failed them since the 2008 Recession. That is the valuable lesson the Conservatives need to take from this year's General Election; it was millennials, or 'Generation Rent', that denied them victory.
This is another reason why Jacob Rees-Mogg deserves to become the next Tory leader. Like Mrs Thatcher, he believes in her aspiration that everyone has the right to own a property. Mr. Rees-Mogg would be more likely to favour measures that would enable the housing market to plug the property shortage gap. For example, the Grenfell Tower incident proved that the properties successive governments have built have failed.
Since Attlee's Labour government legislated the 1947 Town and Country Planning Act, this has legalised centralised planning in the housing sector. These are the types of laws Mr. Rees-Mogg should seek to repeal should he become prime minister. Scrapping this outdated law will provide builders with freedom from the red tape this legislation imposes on the housing sector, enabling them to build sufficient numbers of houses to meet demand, as well as the opportunity to build properties better designed than many ex council houses.
'Green Belt laws prohibit the housing market.'
Other measures a Rees-Mogg premiership could adopt include easing laws that protect the Green Belt. Whilst there are plenty of brownfield sites for the Government to build on, it is clear Green Belt laws prohibit the housing market from building properties on much unused land. Repealing some of these laws and controlling immigration post-Brexit, which adds a huge strain to property numbers, will also help bring down house prices.
The Conservatives need a leader who will inspire 'Generation Rent' to own a house. Who better than a Thatcherite who believes in a property-owning democracy like Jacob Rees-Mogg? Because if the Tories continue to inflate properties in London beyond the income-brackets of under-40s, it is likely Mr. Corbyn will achieve his vision of creating a Venezuelan Britain.
