Many people blame Margaret Thatcher for the lack of UK council housing & while it's true that her #RightToBuy scheme saw many homes sold, with sales receipts going into treasury, not replacements, it's time we understood that blaming Thatcher will not solve the #housingcrisis. 1)

Thatcher (1979-90) effectively replaced social with market/housing association (HA) homes & no govt or council changed that. This fact was made more complex in the 1980's as homes began transferring from council to HA's.
Between 1998 & 2008, 1.3 million homes were transferred. 2)

By 1991, Britain was building fewer than 10,000 council homes every year. At the time, this didn't appear a major concern due to homes remaining fairly cheap but things changed in the early 2000's as England's population increased & cities became flooded by flats & investors. 3)

Interest rates also decreased, which explained why investment was more likely in major cities such as London but in the capital, the completion of flats vs houses fell drastically. Beginning at 50/50 in 1997 but finishing at 92% to 8% by 2010. 4)

With houses converted into flats & flats being the main supply, the lack of ambition in delivering social homes was going to bite & no Government returned us to the ambitious post-war days, where we built hundreds of thousands of social homes a year. 5)

This was compounded by #RightToBuy flaws, as councils do not get full receipts & currently, can only invest 30% of them in new homes. However, what's most puzzling is why previous governments have allowed council house completions to fall so far below Right to Buy sales. 6)

What's even more puzzling, is that after the hefty stock transfer of council homes to HA's in the 2000's, surely every Govt would be looking to HA's to pick up the slack? Not so. In fact, between 1997 and 2006, Right to Buy eclipsed social housing completions. 7)

When we look directly at each governments enabling of council & housing association homes, we can see that when house prices become the most unaffordable between 1997 and 2008, social housing was delivered in its smallest numbers. Since 2010, there's been a slow creep upward. 8)

In 2018, @Conservatives also changed the rules so the borrowing cap was removed & councils could borrow from Public Works Loan Board (PWLB). This will increase delivery but some councils are unable to borrow due to having low stock to borrow against, or few development skills. 9)

PWLB lending is welcomed because it can be accessed almost overnight. There is also a 30 year campaign for government to borrow (0.8% lower rates) & fund councils as a grant. However, councils already get grants from builders, which often goes unspent. 10) https://www.builders.org.uk/news/developers-pay-but-communities-miss-out/

Other campaigns, such as Compulsory Purchase Orders (CPO) may help land come forward at a lower price, meaning homes can be built more cheaply.
I took part in a superb @networkhomesuk event recently, where CPO, grant & contributions were discussed. 11) https://twitter.com/networkhomesuk/status/1283324263316049920?s=20

The truth is, in the last 30 years, no govt or council understood the #housingcrisis & with hindsight, Thatchers decision to not replace council homes was a failure. However, in her defence, high market supply, low prices & low population growth meant she didnt see it coming. 12)

We can see that Major, Blair, Brown, Cameron, Clegg (to an extent), May & all council leaders have played their part in the #housingcrisis because they had the benefit of hindsight but did nothing. Blaming Thatcher isn't only wrong but disingenuous. 13)

To fix the #housingcrisis we must fix planning, funding, greenbelt, local plans, who builds/why & much more!
I therefore implore everyone to back debate, not party politics & I hope this thread has made the case for that.

As ever, I'll endeavour to respond to any questions. 14)