Blame goes all the way to the top
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I have previously condemned Network Housing’s David Levenson for working to expand the shared ownership scheme at this time of crisis (Inside Housing, 23 January).
But the problem seems to stem from the top. Sir Bob Kerslake, chief executive of the Homes and Communities Agency, said recently that ‘there is still strong demand from people wanting to get on the property ladder… [and for] shared equity products’.
Housing associations are in a mess. They have known for almost two years that there was a very serious problem looming, but instead of reining in their building activities they steamed ahead. The solution to this is not the deliberate drawing into the market of first-time buyers, who will not be able to handle the likely consequences of the major negative equity predicted by most commentators.
The solution is for the regulators to render the market free of the people who have caused the problem in the first place.
Properties should be rented on the social housing market and a rescue package should be negotiated from the state.
The regulators who have failed to regulate have caused this situation. While Sir Bob urges first-time buyers to step into a gin trap, Peter Marsh, chief executive of the Tenant Services Authority, was with the Housing Corporation for the duration of the crisis.
I don’t believe either of their positions are tenable.
Peter Rutherford, Independent Federation of Genesis Residents
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