Delivering Safe, Decent, Genuinely Affordable Homes

Housing is the single biggest challenge facing Brent. After 15 years of Labour control the situation has been allowed to worsen. The waiting list continues to grow, families are trapped in overcrowded and unsuitable homes and too many residents are living with damp, disrepair and insecurity. Promises have been made, but delivery has fallen short.

A Council that is serious about housing must focus on homes that people can actually afford, not developments that look good on paper but do little to meet local need. Too often, new developments in Brent have prioritised student accommodation or so-called “affordable” homes that remain out of reach for local families. Housing associations have been allowed to fail tenants without being properly challenged, while leaseholders and shared owners are left with crippling costs and little protection.

Liberal Democrats believe Brent needs a fundamental reset in its housing approach. That means a major expansion of genuinely affordable council homes, higher affordable housing targets in new developments and a clear focus on homes for residents, not investors. It means holding housing associations to account, leading the way on leasehold reform and cracking down on rogue landlords and poorly managed HMOs that damage communities and put tenants at risk.

The following proposals set out how we will deliver safe, decent and genuinely affordable homes, restore standards, and put residents’ needs at the heart of housing policy in Brent. 

1. We will prioritise the Council Homes building programme, addressing Labour’s failure to deliver the homes local people need. The Council will accelerate construction, prioritising social homes to reduce the growing waiting list for local families. We will lobby the Labour government and Mayor of London for direct funding to ensure this programme can be delivered quickly and sustainably, giving residents the homes they have long been promised.

1. We will raise the affordable housing requirement in all new developments in Brent to 60%, going beyond the Council’s current Local Plan target of 50% affordable homes and addressing the chronic shortfall in genuinely affordable housing. This ambitious target will ensure developers deliver the right type of homes for local people, not just profit‑driven schemes that fall far short of need. We will put an end to developers using “viability” excuses to water down affordable housing, making it clear that reduced profits are acceptable when it means delivering homes that Brent families can actually afford.

1. We will reject any new student accommodation or private developments that do not contribute to the genuinely needed homes for Brent residents. All new housing schemes must prioritise local families and affordable housing, not investor‑led projects that fail to meet the borough’s pressing housing needs.
   
    
2. We will hold Housing Associations and property management companies fully to account, building on the successful Liberal Democrat motion during the 2022–2026 term that exposed failings in management and support. The Council will rigorously monitor standards, respond swiftly to complaints, and take action where residents are living in unsafe or poorly maintained homes. Our priority is ensuring that everyone in Brent’s Housing Association–managed blocks receives the safe, decent and well-maintained homes they are entitled to.
   
    
3. We will pause all new applications for HMOs (Houses in Multiple Occupation) in Brent until a full review of licensing and enforcement is completed, allowing the Council to focus resources on addressing existing problems. Landlords will be provided with clear, accessible guidance on property maintenance, tenant management, waste and recycling responsibilities, and preventing anti-social behaviour, while licensing data will be used to identify high-risk properties and target inspections effectively. Where standards are not met, enforcement will be swift and robust, with escalating penalties for repeat offenders, including fines and licence revocation.
   
    
4. Brent will be the first borough to define shared ownership as not an affordable housing model, reviewing all data to ensure figures reflect genuinely affordable homes. We will push for common-hold, hold developers and inspectors accountable for poor-quality work, and regulate management companies to guarantee safe, fairly managed homes for all residents.