Is housing more politically important than the NHS?

Originally posted for Inside Housing on February 13.

When you’re used to seeing things up close sometimes it makes sense to take a step back and look at the bigger picture.

Just such a macro look at housing comes in the latest episode of one of my favourite podcasts.

This week’s episode of Talking Politics is about what it calls ‘the fundamentals’, the factors that influence the politics of voters’ everyday that seem to outside the control of the politicians

The discussion starts with two propositions that are startling not just in themselves but also because they come from Cambridge academics who are more used to talking about Brexit and Trump than housing affordability and housebuilding.

The first is that housing is more politically important to the government than the NHS. Following on from that, the second is that if Jeremy Corbyn wins the next election housing will be the main reason why.

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