Britain’s housing crisis: where MPs and the public agree...and disagree

A new Ipsos study reveals divides between Members of Parliament (MPs) and the British public on approaches to housing. While both groups acknowledge that there is a housing crisis in the UK, their perspectives on solutions and preferred actions vary considerably. The research was carried out among over 100 MPs between July-September 2024 (with a profile reflecting the post-election House of Commons), and 1,070 British adults aged 18-75 in November 2024.

• Both MPs (97%) and the public (72%) agree that there is a national housing crisis: However, MPs are significantly more likely to believe the crisis also extends to their local areas (by 81% to 45%), and this view is held particularly strongly among Labour MPs.
• Both groups believe the government can play a role in addressing the housing crisis: MPs express the strongest level of confidence in government intervention, with 97% disagreeing that there isn’t much that the British government can do to deal with the country’s housing problems (68% among the public).

• MPs overwhelmingly agree building more new homes is necessary to improve affordability: 91% of MPs agree that we will not make housing more affordable unless we increase the number of homes being built. Public support is also present but less pronounced (at 48%).
• Both groups support building more homes in their local areas: However, there is particularly high support among MPs (81% of MPs versus 52% of the public), again especially among Labour MPs.
• Divides on quality versus quantity: The public prioritises improving the quality and design of new homes (48%) over simply increasing the number of homes built (20%). MPs view both aspects as equally important (47% agree with both equally, with the rest split between prioritising quality and design (29%) or numbers (24%)).  Bases sizes are very small so should be treated with caution (see technical note), but while Labour MPs feel both aspects are important, Conservative MPs emphasise quality and design more.

• Divides on whether local views versus housing needs should be prioritised: The public favours prioritising the views of local councils and residents when planning new housing, even if it leads to fewer homes being built (55%, vs 21% who prefer building as many new homes as possible). MPs are more divided on this issue – 42% think priority should be given to the views of local councils and residents, 39% prefer building as many new homes as possible. Again, it is important to note small base sizes mean differences by party are only indicative, but while Labour MPs are more open to the need for more new homes, Conservatives emphasise the need for local input.

• Both MPs and the public agree that social housing is most needed: When asked what types of homes are most needed, both MPs (77%) and the public (41%) are most likely to say that homes to rent from housing associations or local authorities are the most important (although Conservative MPs are split between social housing and homes to buy).

Gideon Skinner, Senior Director of UK Politics at Ipsos said: 

Our new MPs survey reveals a significant gap between MPs and the public on addressing the housing crisis in the UK. While both groups agree on the existence of a national housing crisis and the importance of the government's role, they differ in their views towards the trade-offs necessary to solve it. MPs strongly advocate for building more new homes to improve affordability, with a majority supporting increased construction in their local areas. While the public agrees that more homes are needed, they place greater emphasis on the quality and design of new homes over simple numbers, and prioritise the views of local residents, even if it means building fewer homes. Both groups though identify social housing as the most pressing need.  
There are also signs that the party differences are stronger in the House of Commons than among the public at large, with Labour MPs tending to give bigger priority to the importance of building new homes over other considerations than Conservatives.  This means that while the public is likely to support the principle behind Labour’s target to build many more new homes, the government will need to take care to show that it is listening to public concerns over quality, design, and local priorities too.

Technical note: 

• For the public portion of this survey, Ipsos interviewed a representative sample of 1,070 online British adults aged 18-75. Interviews were conducted between the 1st-5th November 2024.
• Over 100 MPs were interviewed via a mix of telephone and face-to-face interviews between 22nd July – 30th September 2024 (the exact number who answered each question varies, usually from around 110-120). 
• *A note on party differences: The Ipsos MPs survey is conducted via a mix of telephone and face-to-face interviews with over 100 MPs each wave. The sample is reflective of the make-up of the House of Commons by political party, so the majority are Labour MPs. This means the data for “All MPs” tends to be more similar to the views of Labour MPs, but there is a wider range of opinions in the sub-groups. It is important to note that the base size of these sub-groups is very small, particularly for Conservative MPs (c20-24 interviews).  This means there is a wide margin of error for these results. This data should be interpreted cautiously, as indicative of the range of opinion and differences of emphasis between Conservative and Labour MPs, rather than as a precise estimate. 
• Data are weighted to match the profile of the population. All polls are subject to a wide range of potential sources of error.