Housing associations
have a central role to play in building the homes the UK needs and challenging
the attitudes that hold us back, Prime Minister Theresa May has said.
As part of the
Government’s commitment to transform housebuilding, she announced £2 billion in
new funding to give housing associations the long-term certainty they need to
deliver tens of thousands of new affordable and social homes.
As the first Prime
Minister to address the National Housing Federation Summit, she pledged to work
in partnership with the associations to get more people on the housing ladder
and make sure those who can’t afford their own place also have somewhere they’re
proud to call home.
David Orr, Chief
Executive of the National Housing Federation, said: "The announcement of
£2bn of new money for social housing is extremely welcome – but the really
big news here is the Prime Minister’s long-term commitment to funding new affordable
homes. This represents a total step change. For years, the way that money was
allocated meant housing associations couldn’t be sure of long-term funding to
build much-needed affordable housing.
“Now, by changing
the way in which they allocate funding, ministers have given long-term
confidence and confirmed that we are trusted partners in solving the housing
crisis, building new homes and communities.
“Ultimately, this
will have a huge impact on building the affordable homes that thousands of
people across the country desperately need.”
Setting out the
steps government has already taken to respond to the asks of the sector –
including providing long-term certainty on rents and agreeing not to extend the
local housing allowance cap to the social sector – Theresa May announced new
long-term funding for housing associations.
The Prime Minister
called on housing associations to use their unique combination of qualities –
from their close ties with local communities to their expertise as property
managers and their ability to ride out the business cycle and carry on building
– “to achieve things neither private developers nor local authorities are
capable of doing”.
"Rather than
simply acquiring a proportion of the properties commercial developers build, I
want to see housing associations taking on and leading major developments
themselves," she said. "Because creating the kind of large-scale,
high-quality developments this country needs requires a special kind of
leadership – leadership you are uniquely well-placed to provide.
"Given the
right tools and the right support, you can act as the strategic, long-term
investors in the kind of high-quality places this country needs. To put it
simply, you get homes built. And I want to work with you to transform the way
we do so."
The Prime Minister
urged housing associations to use their “unique status, rich history and social
mission” to change the way tenants and society as a whole view social housing.
The government has
committed over £40 billion to get more homes built – creating the
infrastructure to unlock sites where they’re needed most and removing
unnecessary barriers to homebuilding, while making it harder for developers to
dodge their obligations on affordable homes.
The National Federation of Builders (NFB) welcomes the extra
funding, but thinks that the country cannot afford to wait until 2022. In
addition, the NFB is sceptical that the language used focuses on major
developments but not the broken planning process.
Housing associations play a key role in diversifying the housing
market, as well as delivering a wide range of sites. However, typically
partnering with small and medium sized builders (SMEs), they experience many of
the same barriers to building that the non-volume sector faces.
It is therefore frustrating to notice the lack of reference to
the inefficient planning and plan-making process, affecting the major
developments that the prime minister would like registered providers to
deliver.
Richard Beresford, chief executive of the NFB, said: “NHBC
Foundation research identified that 40% of small builders build for housing
associations because the supply barriers SMEs face are also encountered by
registered social landlords. We are disappointed to see that both the
Government and the opposition avoid discussing the elephant in the room: the
broken planning process”
“Extra funding for £2 billion is extremely welcome, but it will
not be accessible until 2022, it will not fix the inefficient planning process
and does little to dispel the negative myths around social housing.”
