More than 1.2 million families are on a waiting list for social housing in England alone.
Kensington and Bayswater is one of the wealthiest areas in the UK. But it is also one of the most socially divided.
In the south of the constituency, high-end mansions line some of the most affluent streets in the world. As they travel north, these luxury homes collide with crowded housing developments.
This deep social divide often translates into razor-thin electoral margins. The seat – redrawn to include Bayswater as part of last year’s boundary review – was one of the most marginal in the country at the 2019 general election, when the Conservatives beat Labour by just 150 votes.
Some residents of the constituency told Euronews that it does not matter Who will have the keys to 10 Downing Street? In the wake of Thursday’s general election, elected officials must do more to tackle chronic housing shortages, crumbling public services and the sense that working and middle classes are generally worse off than they were before.
“A lot of people have been deprived of a lot of things. There have never been so many homeless people on the streets, and I don’t think anyone is paying attention.” said Peter Adams, a construction worker who has lived in the neighborhood for 40 years.
“When you look at planning permission for housing – and the bureaucracy involved in planning – it’s paralysing London.“, he explained, “and we must seek to build for the future“.
Adam Ross, a salesman who lives on the corner of Hyde Park in Kensington, agrees: “We need to build more housing. We need better transportation. We need to build things and get the economy moving again.“.
A 32-year-old shop worker, who preferred to remain anonymous, said she felt oppressed by London’s exorbitant rents and high cost of living.Everything is more expensive, everything. Even for me, who has a stable salary, the end of the month is difficult.” she said.
The cost of living remains high
Kensington is not representative of the different realities of the four nations of the United Kingdom. But across the country, the general feeling is that recent governments have not done enough to mitigate the effects of a raging cost of living crisis.
In the UK, GDP fell by 0.1% and 0.3% respectively in the last two quarters of 2023. But this recession was short-lived and the economy is now showing signs of recovery. GDP grew by 0.6% in the first quarter of this year and inflation fell to the Bank of England’s 2% target in May.
However, with food price inflation remaining high, many people whose incomes have remained unchanged continue to feel the pressure.
According to the charity Trussell Trust, the number of people using food banks has increased by 94% in the UK over the last five years.
Labour is set to make a major breakthrough after 14 years in opposition in Thursday’s general election, a change that Peter Adams says is badly needed.
“I think the party most capable of change is the Labour Party. They understand people’s needs.“, did he declare. “We need to understand the needs of the people, especially the workers. And I think they have not been understood, they have not been listened to enough.“.
The Labour Party and its leader Keir Starmer promise to “create wealth” for workers, as well as a “New Deal“for workers, which would prohibit permanent contracts and the practice of firing and rehiring, and which would establish a decent wage that takes into account the high cost of living.
The party claims the average British household will be £5,883 worse off over the next term if Conservative Rishi Sunak remains prime minister.
In response, Rishi Sunak accused his opponent of drawing up a “Jeremy Corbyn manifesto“, without explaining how the projects would be funded. He has repeatedly warned that tax rises would be inevitable under Mr Starmer, saying Labour “would go bankrupt every generation“.
Difficult housing challenges
Both leaders recognised the enormous challenge facing the UK in terms ofaccess to housing.
ADVERTISEMENTThe UK lags behind other European nations in terms of housing per capita. In England, the number of dwellings per capita is 434 per 1,000 people, which is below the OECD average of 487, while it is 590 in France and 587 in Italy.
In England alone, there are more than 1.2 million people on waiting lists for social housing. That figure is around 1.5 million across the four countries.
The Conservatives have pledged to build 1.6 million new homes in the next term. Labour is targeting 1.5 million new homes within five years of coming to power, to be built along what Mr Starmer has described as the “gray belt“, that is, areas of the green belt that have been neglected or fallen into disrepair.
Labour also wants to reinstate mandatory housing targets for local councils, which Mr Sunak scrapped in 2023 amid rebellion within his party.
Housing quality is also a major challenge: an estimated 14% of households live in housing that does not meet the Decent Homes Standard.
ADVERTISEMENTThe tragic death of two-year-old Awaab Ishak from a respiratory illness caused by a large amount of mould in his Rochdale home in 2020 highlighted the serious consequences of poor quality housing developments across the country.
