The big freeze
Figures from the National House Building Council this week show that housing starts across the UK in the first three months of this year are almost double those for the same period in 2009.
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Sadly this may mark a high point. Given the announcement this week of a £610 million combination of cuts and freezes to the Homes and Communities Agency budget - which conservative estimates show will threaten the construction of more than 7,000 homes this financial year - it seems the house building recovery could be short-lived. So in terms of continued investment in housing, what did this week’s cuts and the Queen’s Speech tell us?
First, councils and housing associations with development aspirations face having their wings clipped. Already larger developing landlords are warning hundreds of planned homes will not be built if the HCA can longer give the green light.
Second, the advent of a Conservative-dominated Whitehall will be a double-edged sword for local authority chief executives. On the one hand, they will have serious spatial housing and planning powers once more, but with the £1.1 billion cuts to their budgets forming just the tip of the iceberg will they have the clout to make a difference? The delay caused by a further review of council housing finance, and the extra funds this could release, further ties councils’ hands. That said, the abolition of centrally decided housing targets may have been derided by many in the sector, but it is possible that the freedom now enjoyed by town halls could galvanise councillors to push hard for housing investment to be prioritised. Housing may not have had much of a national profile in the general election, but due to shortages, it is frequently the number one local issue and councillors will be conscious of the buck now stopping with them.
Third, there was an unexpected ray of hope over where the sector sits in the pecking order come the emergency Budget of 22 June and the autumn spending review. The £170 million George Osborne allocated on Monday to build 4,000 homes may have been accurately characterised as a ‘fig leaf’ by former housing minister John Healey, yet the chancellor is clearly aware of the importance of continued investment in the sector. Those development stats may have some life in them yet.