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Government is now truly engaging with the sector

The past three weeks have signalled a fundamental shift in the government’s relationship with the sector, says David Montague

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Government is now truly engaging with housing sector, by David Montague

Just before midday on 4 October Theresa May took to the stage at the Conservative Party conference in Manchester. Struggling through a terrible cough and rudely interrupted by a heckler, she valiantly set out her vision for post-Brexit Britain.

And there was something in it for everyone. Regardless of age, mental and physical health, upbringing or background, there was something in it for you. At one point even my vital organs were offered to someone else.

So, staying with the positive, £9bn for social housing – brilliant. A new generation of council housing – brilliant. “We want you to stay” directed towards EU nationals – brilliant. A Conservative prime minister dedicating her premiership to fixing the broken housing market – brilliant.


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It shouldn’t surprise us that the housing section of a Conservative prime minister’s speech began and ended with homeownership. And it shouldn’t surprise us that so generous an offer was made to extend the Help to Buy scheme.

But the next step, in my view, should be a review of what we now have and how we can make the most of it. Starting with Help to Buy.

Even with Help to Buy, the average age of a buyer remains stubbornly in the late 30s. The first rung of the ladder is too high for younger people. And with less than 9,000 Help to Buy customers in London from a total of 135,000 nationally, it doesn’t bring homeownership much closer for Londoners.

“With councils, housing associations and house builders working together we really could do something remarkable.”

I would like to see Help to Buy being used more creatively. For example it could be adapted to include shared ownership. With shared ownership grant currently at £30,000 per unit, this could stretch government money much further and would lower the first rung of the ladder.

A total of £10bn at £30,000 per home, that’s 330,000 shared ownership homes – not bad compared with the 135,000 new homes on offer. Or put another way, 135,000 shared ownership homes could be delivered for £4bn to £6bn less than conventional Help to Buy.

So how about throwing the whole lot – £9bn for social housing and £10bn for Help to Buy – into one big £19bn pot and seeing how many homes we can build? With councils, housing associations and house builders working together we really could do something remarkable, providing new social housing for people on lower incomes, a range of rented and homeownership options for people in a variety of circumstances, and a pathway from rent to part or full ownership for those who want it.

One week earlier at the Labour Party conference, Jeremy Corbyn promised a review of social housing policy and a radical programme of action. As housing associations step up to the challenge and invest across all tenures, this is a welcome reminder that our anchor is in social housing and in social housing tenants. The world will change around us and we will change with it, but our commitment to housing people on low and middle incomes must never change.

As the sector consolidates and takes on new risks, we must find ways of remaining close to our tenants and close to our founding purpose. Our governance and accountability structures must evolve. And the next generation of sector leaders must face two very different worlds with equal commitment.

“As the sector consolidates and takes on new risks, we must find ways of remaining close to our tenants and close to our founding purpose.”

At L&Q we are doing just this. For example, I believe that by investing in digital technology we can provide a more responsive service and better value for money. If you look at Argos, where our new chief operating officer has just joined us from, it provides an excellent online service connected to a super-efficient, nationwide, same-day delivery service and a store on every high street. More efficient than us, more convenient than us, more local than us.

If you combine this with the tenant involvement and customer experience initiatives of housing associations up and down the country, we really can deliver the best of both worlds.

Finally, let’s go one week further back to the National Housing Federation conference. With a communities secretary promising to tackle the stigma of social housing, a housing minister promising to make social housing something we can be proud of and a shadow secretary of state for housing committing to back housing associations 100%, this is an extraordinary time for our sector.

In the course of three weeks our world changed. With sector ambition and cross-party support, this is our time. Housing associations have come of age. We are partners of choice. Now we must deliver.

David Montague, chief executive, L&Q

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