Most Tory voters want more affordable housing stock, finds poll

theguardian.com:

A majority of Conservative voters want their party to deliver more affordable housing and let councils buy up empty properties, according to new polling which suggests that public frustration with the housing crisis is now more evenly spread across the political divide.

Two-thirds of Tories want new-build developments to include more affordable homes and 68% want higher taxes on second homes and empty properties, according to YouGov polling shared with the Guardian.

The research comes after the Levelling Up white paper disappointed some housing campaigners by failing to set targets for increasing the supply of low-rent homes, which is seen by many as a key weapon in the fight against the cost of living crisis.

A large minority of Conservative voters – 39% – support giving private renters indefinite tenancies which can only be ended when a tenant wants to move or in cases of criminal damage or severe rent arrears. Such a policy would go much further than the ban on no-fault evictions that Michael Gove, the secretary of state for levelling up, housing and communities, last week said he would deliver.

Matt Downie, the chief executive of Crisis, a charity for homeless people, said: “If there is clear cross-party support for making sure that people on lower or no incomes have somewhere stable to live, we’d urge the government to take action on that and start to unravel the enormous housing crisis facing this country.

“One of the most obvious ways we can tackle the cost of living crisis is to bring down housing costs.”

A study by Heriot-Watt University estimated that 90,000 more social homes need to be built every year to meet demand.

But in the year 2020-21, housing associations built 26,010 new homes in England, which was the