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Clarion CEO: it’s time for a new social contract for housing
Eighty years since the Beveridge Report, we must address the ‘five new giants’ of opportunity, writes Clare Miller, chief executive of Clarion Housing Group
Clare Miller is chief executive of Clarion Housing Group
Clarion CEO: it’s time for a new social contract for housing #UKhousingEighty years since the Beveridge Report, we must address the ‘five new giants’ of opportunity, writes Clare Miller, chief executive of Clarion Housing Group #UKhousingIn 1942, William Beveridge produced his landmark report identifying the “five giants” that stood in the way of a fairer Britain. His report did more than diagnose the country’s ills, it laid the foundations for a post-war social contract that helped deliver the welfare state, NHS and a collective conviction that a better, more equal Britain was possible.
More than 80 years since the Beveridge report, the need for bold vision is no less urgent, and the task remains the same: to imagine and build a better future.
Today, Clarion Housing Group will launch The Five New Giants of Opportunity, a report convened to mark our 125th anniversary and inspired by Beveridge’s ambition.
As the UK’s largest social landlord, Clarion carries a responsibility not to only house more than 360,000 people today, but to also ensure the homes and communities we create will meet the needs of generations to come. Our residents will still be living in many of these homes 125 years from now. This long view demands long thinking.
When our founder William Sutton left his fortune in 1900 to house low-paid workers, he ignited a legacy of civic duty and practical hope. That legacy lives on in the homes Clarion still manages today. But with rent pressures, health inequalities and climate risk, today’s challenges demand a reimagined response.
The Five New Giants of Opportunity was shaped by a group of diverse and expert voices – environmentalists, designers, social entrepreneurs, health researchers and residents. We asked them: what are the structural threats to people’s well-being, and how can housing providers respond in ways that empower, protect and restore?
They answered with urgency and hope. From the planetary emergency to digital disruption, from ageing populations to declining trust in institutions, the message was clear: no single organisation or sector can tackle these challenges alone.
The result is a modern-day mission statement for social housing and a call to action not just for our organisation, but for our partners across government, civil society and the housing sector.
Today’s giants wear different faces:
- Disconnection that weakens our social fabric
- Fragility in the face of climate and economic shocks
- Mistrust in institutions and leadership
- Ill health driven by inequality and poor living conditions
- Insufficiency as too many people struggle to meet life’s basic needs
To tackle these challenges, we take inspiration from Beveridge and propose five pillars for a fairer future: connection, resilience, trust, health and sufficiency.
First, we must rebuild connection, strengthening the social fabric and empowering communities. Second, we must build resilience, ensuring our homes and systems can withstand environmental and economic shocks. Third, we must restore trust between residents, institutions and the state. Fourth, we must put health at the heart of housing policy. Finally, we must tackle insufficiency, ensuring everyone has the security of a safe, affordable home.
These five pillars are not separate ambitions but parts of a connected system, each reinforcing the others. Connection builds trust, resilience protects health and sufficiency underpins them all.
Together, these pillars form the foundations of thriving places. Not just bricks and mortar, but ecosystems of support – homes that are warm, affordable and green; communities that are empowered, inclusive and resilient; and institutions that listen and adapt.
This report is a call to arms for housing associations, councils, central government and developers alike. We need shared ambition and shared accountability. The future won’t be built by isolated initiatives. It requires integrated effort across housing, health, education, environment and technology.
At Clarion, we are already acting on this agenda. We’ve retrofitted more than 1,000 homes, supported 50,000 residents with digital skills, and invested in programmes that tackle loneliness, unemployment and poor health. But it’s not enough to work in silos or to act alone.
“To tackle these challenges, we take inspiration from Beveridge and propose five pillars for a fairer future: connection, resilience, trust, health and sufficiency”
We believe social housing must once again be recognised as essential infrastructure, not a safety net of last resort but a foundation for opportunity. We call for a renewed national commitment to housing as the backbone of a fairer society, one where no child grows up in temporary accommodation, where older people live with dignity, and where everyone has a safe, secure and sustainable place to call home.
To get there, we need a new social contract that puts housing at the heart of public policy and treats residents not as service users, but as partners in change.
This new social contract calls for a co-ordinated effort to tackle inequality, poor health and climate risk at their roots. That means stronger cross-sector collaboration, as well as designing policy, investment and services that work together to improve people’s lives. By uniting the homes we build to the ways we care for people, educate communities and protect the environment, we can create communities that are not only more resilient but also fairer and more connected.
We invite others to join us to pool ideas, insights and investment so that the following decades deliver real transformation for the sector and our residents who always remain at the heart of what we do.
As Beveridge wrote: “A revolutionary moment in the world’s history is a time for revolutions, not for patching.”
Clare Miller, chief executive, Clarion Housing Group
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