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Theresa May must now push all relevant departments on housing
To ensure this week’s summit was not just a talking shop, the prime minister needs to ensure a cross-department approach, says Emma Maier
Just two years ago, housing professionals were worrying about whether housing would retain a position in Ipsos Mori’s list of top 10 voter concerns.
This week, the prime minister invited key social housing leaders to a summit to ask them how her government can fix the broken housing market.
In reality, housing has rarely been out of the national news in that time, despite Brexit and slipping NHS performance.
There may not be a secretary of state for housing, but housing is an issue at the Cabinet table.
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Like her predecessor, Theresa May knows that the increasing housing affordability crisis could seriously affect her party’s chances at the next election.
David Cameron’s policies, driven by advisor Alex Morton, were seemingly based on the premise that homeowners are more likely than social housing tenants to vote Conservative, so ownership was key and the Right to Buy extension hit a sweet spot.
By contrast, Ms May, advised by former housing minister Gavin Barwell, appears to have understood that affordability is key in the fight against voter disenchantment, and that volume house builders can’t sufficiently step up supply. She knows she needs a mix of developers and tenures: step forward housing associations and, to some extent, councils.
"Theresa May knows she needs a mix of developers and tenures."
A Number 10 summit sounds impressive, but was it just a talking shop? Ms May was said to be in listening mode and made no promises. “Listening is good. Action would be better,” quipped one tweeter.
There is no doubt that the summit was stage-managed. After her conference speech, the prime minister needs to be seen to be making progress.
The meeting started with a speech directed at the film crews, and national papers were briefed that she was “laying down a challenge”.
This is no surprise, nor is it a bad thing: politicians broke the housing market, and politicians will need to fix it again.
When the cameras left, the meeting was constructive, engaged and ran over time. The PM wanted to hear personally from the attendees, and Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) ministers and the permanent secretary were said to be scribbling studiously.
“Politicians broke the housing market, and politicians need to fix it.”
Despite a wide range of housing attendees, the meeting was also noteworthy for those missing.
The only department represented was the DCLG. Also absent was Homes England, which splits from the regulator shortly and clearly has the potential to be a significant player, with a role in the strategic management of land. This must be a cross-government agenda.
Ms May needs to push all relevant departments on housing, on issues such as welfare and health. Perhaps her biggest battle is with the Treasury, which is less keen on a housing spending spree.
Having invited the media in, Ms May will need to continue to push the agenda forward. The Autumn Budget offers an opportunity, from focused spend such as relieving the chronic shortage of planners to bigger issues such as the borrowing cap, lifting constraints on local authority Right to Buy receipts or the release of public land. Ms May has been given much food for thought.
Emma Maier, editor, Inside Housing
