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2018 was a year of good intentions – 2019 must be one of real change
In 2019 we must make sure we are building new homes and thriving places, writes Kate Henderson
If 2017 was the year that put housing back on the political agenda, 2018 was the year that it moved front and centre – at least as far as domestic politics is concerned.
Of course, there may not have been any fundamental changes (despite the merry-go-round of three different housing ministers in the past twelve months), but it is fair to say that there have been some very encouraging signs for all of us in the sector.
The headline-grabber of the year has been funding, especially the promise of £2bn in a new, long-term investment from the government to get more affordable homes built, promised by the prime minister at our National Housing Summit.
We have also seen this in the very welcome growth of strategic partnerships between housing associations and Homes England.
“What is more important is what this new funding represents: a clear commitment to work in partnership to tackle the housing crisis.”
Every penny of new funding is vital – for housing associations, for tenants and for the people left behind by our broken housing market.
But, what is more important is what this new funding represents: a clear commitment to work in partnership to tackle the housing crisis.
Indeed, we’re also pleased that the Labour Party has echoed this commitment in its own housing manifesto.
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Government investment is absolutely vital if we are to build the homes that the country needs – our research from earlier in the year shows that England needs 340,000 homes every year, including 90,000 homes for social rent, if everyone is to have somewhere affordable and secure to live.
But just building more homes doesn’t tell the whole story. In many parts of the country, the roots of the crisis are more difficult to untangle.
These places also need economic and social regeneration, alongside broader interventions that will rebalance the economy away from an over reliance on London and the South East.
We have already started work on this with our Great Places programme, but there is still much more that needs to be done.
Ultimately, we also need to remember that we have a responsibility to people already living in social housing, and to the communities in which we already have a stake.
Here, too, we have seen good progress over the past year.
The long-awaited Social Housing Green Paper has helped to spark a conversation about how we house people in this country. Rightly, it puts tenants at the heart of what it seeks to achieve. It may have been rather greener than some in the sector would have wanted, but it does offer more proof that the government is taking social housing seriously once again.
In 2019, both of these aspects of housing associations’ work – building new homes and supporting existing communities – must come even closer together.
“There have been lots of warm words for social housing. This is a positive step, but on its own will not solve the problems the country faces.”
We must make sure that we are building enough homes so that everyone in the country has a roof over their heads. But we must also ensure that it is in a thriving place, so that residents can put down roots.
Over the past year, there have been lots of warm words for social housing. This is a positive step, but on its own it will not solve the problems the country faces.
Land is still ludicrously expensive, with high prices putting a brake on affordable housing by pricing housing associations out of the market.
Communities, particularly in parts of the North of England and the Midlands, are still often ignored, with economic growth and investment concentrated in and around London.
If we are serious about ending the housing crisis, these are the issues that must be addressed. If we truly want to meet this challenge, we need to go beyond the good intentions of 2018 and make 2019 a year of action.
Kate Henderson, chief executive, National Housing Federation
