Why Liz Truss must deliver on more housebuilding in Yorkshire - Richard Fearon

She would be forgiven for thinking that a housing crisis, decades in the making, might not be her top priority. Yet for the younger generation of renters locked out of homeownership and the 1.5 million living in overcrowded homes, we cannot kick this can down the road any further.

The problem for our region is particularly acute.

House prices in Yorkshire and the Humber have trebled in the last 20 years. For many readers, seeing such a big asset appreciate in value may be welcome news - but first-time buyers face the most unaffordable housing market since records began.

This poses a real problem for politicians who must defend seats where there are growing numbers of would-be homeowners who cannot fulfil their dream, including the marginal ‘Red Wall’ seats across our region.

To put the problem in perspective, the average wage 20 years ago was £19,000. If wages had kept pace with house prices, then the average Yorkshire worker would now earn £57,000. Instead, it’s £29,000.

What’s more, the gap between wages and house prices here is growing at a rate faster than even London.

Of course, there’s no simple fix for the housing crisis facing our country but building enough homes to meet demand is unquestionably the right place to start.

The number of registered new builds this year is down by a fifth in the region, while it’s down by a quarter nationally. That’s why I challenged Liz Truss and all of the candidates vying to be Prime Minister to meet their commitments by building the 300,000 homes a year our country so desperately needs and that the Conservative 2019 manifesto promised.

Yes, the new Prime Minister objected to targets for housebuilding during the leadership contest, however I remain hopeful that the scale of ambition can be retained by government.

With the economy on the cusp of recession, we should be clear that building homes is good for growth. By delivering on the manifesto pledge, the Prime Minister would be generating £14.2 billion of economic activity and creating 260,000 additional jobs. During times of tough government spending decisions, the opportunity to unlock private investment and well-paid jobs across the country by having the right policy framework in place is surely unmissable.

The reasons we continually fail as a country to build enough homes are broad, complex and hotly disputed. They will only be addressed through strong political leadership, a willingness to challenge popular misgivings and following the facts.

It will require a long-term strategy that will give confidence to the housing industry and certainly won’t be solved by the uncertainty of stop-start reform and the revolving door of government ministers tasked with the brief.

In fact, following these cabinet appointments we will now be working with the 18th Housing Minister in 18 years. I welcome them to the role and wish them success because the country simply cannot take a long-term view of housing delivery if they are moved on just as they’ve got to grips with the job.

At Leeds Building Society we are constantly seeking ways to put homeownership within reach of more people. It was our founding purpose over 147 years ago and we are as committed as ever to that mission.

That’s why we have announced we will no longer lend on second homes. Second homes reduce the number of homes available for local families, they have a negative impact on communities and don’t benefit local economies. As a truly purpose-driven lender we will put those energies into helping more first-time buyers onto the housing ladder instead.

As the Prime Minister takes on this challenge, we stand ready to support any effort to take a long-term view of housing delivery and to address this crisis with the urgency, perspective, and gravity it merits.

Richard Fearon is chief executive of Leeds Building Society