Britain’s Fraying Social Contract
Comm Comm’s Chris Sharp shares his take on the housing crisis in the UK and how politicians should prioritise planning to help repair the UK’s frayed social contract.
The social contract isn’t a piece of paper. It’s a promise.
We give our time, work hard and pay taxes; in return, the state keeps us safe, keeps things fair, and allows us to build a life.
But when homes slip out of reach and opportunities dry up, that promise begins to fracture.
Across Britain, the signs are clear: trust is low, ambition feels pointless, and the launchpad to adult life - stable work, a home, and a sense of progress - is crumbling.
Homeownership among 25- to 34-year-olds has collapsed from 55% in 1997 to just 39% in 2023.
More than 3.6 million young adults now live with their parents.
At the same time, the jobs that once funded first mortgages are disappearing.
According to Reed, graduate roles have fallen 70% in just two years, and more than 600,000 graduates now claim benefits.
They did what was asked of them: studied hard, earned degrees, got the grades. But the future they were promised by society is slipping away.
It’s little wonder frustration is rising. A Channel 4 study found that more than half of Gen Z respondents believe the UK would be a better place if a strong leader could rule without parliament or elections.
That should stop all of us in our tracks.
This is not just a housing crisis - it’s a democratic one. A nation that can’t deliver successful, independent adult lives risks breaking faith with an entire generation.
A Country That Stopped Building
Britain’s housing shortage is decades in the making.
The previous Conservative government set a target of 300,000 homes a year. Labour has raised it to 370,000.
Neither figure has ever been achieved in modern times. In fact, England hasn’t built 300,000 homes in a single year since 1969 - and only once in the past 78 years have completions exceeded 350,000.
In London, where demand is greatest, the picture is bleak. Sales and starts for private schemes of 20 or more homes are ‘heading towards zero,’ according to analysis by Robert Colvile of the Centre for Policy Studies.
Even if national targets were met, they would barely dent a backlog of 4.3 million missing homes - homes that should exist but were never built. This, along with stagnant wages, has impacted my generation – the millennials.
For instance, my parents bought a three-bedroom house in Reading for £250,000 in 2000. My dad had a decent full-time job, whereas my mum looked after my brother and me.
That same house is now worth £730,000. There is no way I could afford this house, despite my wife and I both in full-time employment and earning a reasonable salary.
When I eventually move out of London from my shared ownership flat, I can’t move back home to Reading and offer my family the same quality of life I enjoyed growing up.
And the pattern of short supply impacting our quality of life extends beyond housing.
We haven’t built a major reservoir since 1992, despite significant population growth. That is a big reason explaining why we have experienced drought conditions in this country.
Domestic generation of energy is down by 25% since 2000. That means we pay among the highest bills in the developed world.
Planning delays, infrastructure gaps, and fear of change have become defining features of modern Britain.
We are, quite simply, a country that has forgotten how to build with ambition and efficiency.
Rebuilding the System
A key part of rebuilding the social contract will require homes to be built and a planning system that underpins a smooth and regular supply of homes.
Through our work with the Planning Leadership Group (PLG), Planning Futures, and the Community Housing and Development Network (CHDN), Comm Comm has seen first-hand how public trust in planning has eroded.
Communities often feel that development happens to them, not with them. Developers, in turn, face paralysis and delay. Viability is a huge factor adding to recent developer woes, with analysis showing that housebuilding in half of London is unviable. Although viability perhaps needs other fixes beyond the planning system, such as cutting stamp duty to boost demand – it adds up to a bleak picture.
It doesn’t have to be this way.
We need to co-design, not impose. Engage residents early, before the first sketch, and continue through to completion. Give people tools to shape development, not just block it.
We need a planning culture that treats good development as a public good, not a battle to be won.
A National Effort
There are lessons to be learnt from overseas..
Singapore’s long-term, plan-led approach - high homeownership, clear national vision, and public exhibitions of its Masterplan - offers a glimpse of what can be achieved when a nation commits to delivery.
We don’t need to copy their model, but we can adopt their mindset: plan openly, act boldly, and make it easy to say yes to progress. Progress and prosperity should unite a population.
Good planning, in addition to homes and infrastructure – including health and education facilities, creates investment, opportunities and jobs, to fuel an economy.
Britain - as proven by decades of failure when it comes to housebuilding and economic growth when measured per capita - doesn’t just lack effective ideas, resolve and ambition. It lacks a system capable of turning plans into places and promises into homes.
If the social contract is to mean anything, it must show up in places people can live.
That starts with a planning system that is clearer, faster, and fairer - for communities and for builders.
We can also take inspiration from Robert Jenrick’s proposed planning reforms when he was Housing Secretary in 2020.
1) Plan once, zone clearly: Adopt a simple zoning framework so everyone knows where growth will happen: Growth, Renewal, and Protected areas, with permission in principle in growth zones where local plans and design codes are met. Predictability cuts delay and reduces conflict
2) Make plans fast - and digital by default: Require map-based, digital local plans and enforce statutory timeframes so plans are in place on time. Clear, visual plans are easier for residents to understand and for councils to deliver. Did you know that only 11% of young people have knowingly engaged with the creation of their local plan?
3) Raise the bar on quality, design codes & a fast-track for beauty: Give communities and councils local design codes - and fast-track consent for schemes that meet them. Beauty and character become a gateway, not an afterthought, rebuilding public trust while speeding good development
4) Brownfield-first - and build up where it makes sense: Prioritise brownfield sites, allow building up sensibly, and unlock homes around transport hubs. Pair with design codes so intensification strengthens character rather than eroding it.
Fixing the planning system is not bureaucracy - it’s the foundation of fairness. It’s how we restore belief that effort still counts and that the next generation has something to build toward.
Because rebuilding the social contract doesn’t start in Westminster - it starts on the ground, with the homes and neighbourhoods we create together.
It starts with planning.
And it starts now. If we don’t, we could be heading towards civil unrest and an entire generation that has lost faith in democracy.
Chris Sharp, Project Manager at Comm Comm UK
