As mentioned earlier, all governments since 1947 have exacerbated the current housing crisis by preserving the repressive Town and Country Planning Act that was implemented that same year. However, that does not mean successive administrations have not introduced flagship housing policies that deserve to be celebrated.
The Thatcher Government's 1980 Housing Act enabled council tenants to own their own properties. It was criticised for failing to ensure there was a sufficient supply of social housing to replace all the houses sold at the time. Yet Britain has the most council houses in Europe and for every new housing estate that is built, twenty-five per cent of new properties have to be social houses.
Equally, the 1980 Housing Act was not the final solution to today's housing crisis.
"A population surge, not insufficient housing numbers, is causing the housing crisis"
There have been numerous articles published over the last few days suggesting it is a population surge, not insufficient housing numbers, that is causing the housing crisis. There is a lot of truth behind these claims. As Theresa May said at the 2011 Conservative Party Conference when she was home secretary, immigration expanded in 1997 under Tony Blair. This policy not only caused the property bubble to burst because housing was in short supply, but it contributed towards last year's Brexit result.
Despite all the negativity surrounding house prices in the media, it is not all bad news.
Since the Coalition came to power in 2010, they introduced a new housing scheme called shared ownership. It is a brilliant concept, so why aren't the Government shouting about it enough?
Many councils are leaping onto the idea. Wandsworth Council has announced a unique policy that will provide local residents struggling with overcrowding with a shared ownership property.
They deserve credit for expanding this scheme to crowded tenants failing to move into affordable housing in the most expensive part of the nation.
"Shared ownership is not perfect"
Shared ownership is not perfect. Tenants do not own their property outright and they are restricted to specific properties. Valuation fees are imposed on people who wish to purchase more shares in their property.
Rent is still payable to a landlord and one-hundred per cent of maintenance costs must be paid.
However, considering many young people start off on a low income, it is an ideal scheme for millennials. The option of buying shares from your landlord is still there if you can afford it. Many under-25s resign themselves to renting when they leave home, but shared ownership is cheaper than renting and your house can be sold at any time. The rent on the landlord's share is below market rates and there is the benefit of increasing the value of your shared purchase.
This policy has provided many people with hope that they will one day own their own home. The Government should be proud of it, rather like the Thatcher government championed its 1980 Housing Act.
But like with many recent governments' solutions to the housing crisis, shared ownership is not the final answer.
It would be refreshing if the Chancellor announced on Wednesday that his policy of building 300,000 new homes a year was accompanied by the scrapping of the Town and Country Planning Act 1947, which would provide councils with the autonomy to create more shared ownership properties. This would provide people with choice when it comes to buying houses too. The anticipated extension of Help to Buy will not solve the housing problem either. Hammond has his hands tied by the Prime Minister and Communities Secretary Sajid Javid. The latter was once the darling of the free market Tories, but has become a convert to state control since occupying his position. This decade will end with more houses being built than in 1997-2010, but the 2010s may well become another wasted opportunity to liberalise Britain's failed planning system.
