Moving forward with social rents

Polly Neate, chief executive of Shelter, referred to housing as the “amputated arm of the welfare state”, before revealing it is currently carrying out a piece of work looking at how social homes are funded, and how it could be delivered more sustainably.

Lord Kerslake, chair of housing association Peabody and former head of the civil service, said in order to end homelessness the government must “commit to a major programme of social housing at the earliest possible opportunity”.

He thinks at least a quarter of new homes started should be for social rent. Of course, as we revealed this week, Peabody itself is looking to let more homes at social rent levels.

Earlier this year, at the MIPIM property conference, one senior figure close to government told me that social landlords needed to make a much stronger public case for socially rented housing if they want to persuade government to send more of its investment in this direction.

Social landlords that think this is part of the solution for homelessness would do well to join the Homes for Cathy campaign now (Lord Kerslake challenged more members of the G15 to do so in his speech).

For now though, the group’s conference showed that housing at social rent levels is, for the first time in what seems like an age, a hot topic.

With a new housing minister and housing secretary now charged with finishing the Social Housing Green Paper, it’s a timely moment to point out that socially rented housing has a proud legacy – but an equally important role moving forward.

To all the UKHA winners

Massive congratulations to all the winners, highly commended entries and finalists at the 2018 UK Housing Awards (UKHAs) this week.

The UKHAs are the largest and longest running awards in the sector and we have run them for many years in partnership with the Chartered Institute of Housing.

This year we welcomed more than 1,000 guests to the event – all eager to find out more about some of the best practice in the sector (or share their own!).

Of course, with rough sleeping still rising and the affordability crisis still gripping the UK, there is much work still to be done.

Nonetheless, at the end of a horrendous year, this week acted as a reminder that the sector is full of creative, committed professionals who are constantly searching for new ways to tackle the crisis, working with individuals and communities to help them take action to improve their lives.

Well done to all our winners for their fantastic work.

Martin Hilditch, managing editor, Inside Housing