Brutally trustworthy nurse sums up what’s improper with UK housing disaster

Voters say tackling soaring rents and mortgages is their key General Election priority.

Our reporters spoke to more than 100 people about what the parties should do to fix Britain’s broken housing system. We quizzed dozens of struggling homeowners, as well as people facing a squeeze in private rents as well as families and young people unable to get onto the property ladder.

Jacob Knight, 26, owner of a vintage clothing business in Cardiff, summed up the situation for those in his age group, saying: “I’m looking to move out at the moment. Just a two bedroom flat. And it’s going to be costing well over £1,000 a month.

“And then housing in general. Even just to buy a place for people in my age, just to get on the property ladder. The amount of money you’ve got to be making to be able to save up a deposit is crazy and near impossible.”

Mirror Online and sister regional newsrooms around the UK have been polling the public as part of our 5000 Voices campaign, getting a real sense of what matters to voters – and what the politicians should focus on to get your vote.

Others we interviewed talked about the impact of rising rents.

Bree, a nurse from Cardiff, said: “It’s very much the richer are getting richer and the poor are just struggling day to day. Because the rent is getting ridiculous. I used to live in Bristol and two years ago I had to move because I couldn’t afford it any more

“But even now, the rents are going up more so it’s not that much cheaper than Bristol.”

Those in the South East of England also talked about the difficulties of getting on the housing ladder.

Becky Welford, 24, a conveyancing assistant from Staines, said: “It’s just not affordable and I don’t know how on earth you make it affordable.

“People are just not able to sell, people can’t get mortgages and the mortgage rates are just like … they are supposed to be coming back down. Hopefully that will help.”

Accountant Shavonne Konno, 47, from Surrey, said: “I think the way to forward is probably rent controls. Longer rent periods so people are better protected and landlords are in the market for the long term.”

Manchester business owner Duncan Worsely, 63, said: “I as a retailer see lots and lots of empty properties above shops. You are probably looking at a couple of hundred of thousands in the UK.

“I think they should be utilised. Give incentives to landlords to convert these empty units into houses.”

Simon, 61, from Wythenshawe, south Manchester, said he felt immigration was to blame. He said : “I don’t think Labour will fix it. And the Conservatives have not done anything about it. The way to fix it is to reduce the number of immigrants that’s coming in, in my opinion.

“There’s too many people and not enough accommodation for the people that’s here without ones extra coming in illegally.”

Manchester pensioner John, 78, added: “We’re desperate for houses and we need the planning permission to be amended and for the central government to help the local government to put more money into it to get these schemes going.”

A number of housing bodies, developers and homeless charities have pointed to lack of housing and poor quality or unsafe housing in huge swathes of the country, with rising mortgage rates hitting homeowners and being passed on by landlords to people renting privately.

The average private rents in the UK increased nearly 9 per cent in the 12 months up to April 2024, according to the Office for National Statistics, with tenants paying £103 more every month on average than they were a year ago.

Labour has promised to built 1.5 million new homes over the next five years. The party included plans to speed up the planning process for new develompments in its manifesto and

Keir Starmer promised that councils would be given powers to earmark green belt land for construction and vowed to bring back compulsory housing targest for councils, a policy scrapped under Rishi Sunak.

The Conservative manifesto commits to constructing 1.6 million new homes in the upcoming parliament and pledged measures such as scrapping Capital Gains Tax (CGT) for landlords selling to sitting tenants.

5000 voices reporting team: Alfie Mulligan; Shaurya Shaurya; Bryana Francis; Charles Elliman