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Time to embrace a new state of ambition
The recent Spending Review has me reflecting on Ken Loach’s Cathy Come Home, writes Leann Hearne, chief executive of Livv Housing Group
Leann Hearne is chief executive of Livv Housing Group
The recent Spending Review has me reflecting on Ken Loach’s Cathy Come Home, writes Leann Hearne, chief executive of Livv Housing Group #UKhousingNext year, it will be six decades since the original air date of Ken Loach’s Cathy Come Home, a landmark piece of television which chronicled the plight of mum-of-three Cathy and her journey into the depths of housing despair and social-services red tape.
I find myself thinking about this drama against the backdrop of the £39bn jackpot for affordable housing in the Spending Review. It’s a seismic amount that gives us the first real line of sight we’ve had in decades on a new-build programme that will produce generational change.
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We can now embrace a new state of ambition for the new homes that will create a new generation of opportunity for the people and families who need and deserve it most, helping to bring back the basic human right to have a place to call home.
I do still believe it is a back-loaded ‘jackpot’, putting right the years of underinvestment that’s the very reason our social housing stock is in crisis in the first place. That’s coupled with the investment our existing housing stock requires and regeneration funding (cut in its entirety in 2010).
There are clearly details to come and policy to finalise, on route to delivering the government’s 1.5 million new homes pledge. And while we are still in ‘destination exciting’ mode, we need to face some realities inherent in this 10-year programme. It’s set against a landscape of complex processes and convoluted planning that has to be simplified if our sector is going to be able to play its part in the vision.
“In the Spending Review, our sector’s lobbying for housing to be recognised as critical infrastructure has been heard – but there is, as ever, a way to go yet”
In the Spending Review, our sector’s lobbying for housing to be recognised as critical infrastructure has been heard – but there is, as ever, a way to go yet.
I believe that having a safe, warm home is where opportunity in life can grow and where success can stem from. Sixty years on from the screening of Cathy Come Home, we can still see the vital interplay between a home and the social-services support people may need to get, and to stay, in one.
So, just as there’s a way to go in housing, there’s a way to go to fund change to tackle homelessness and make the seismic difference needed for supported housing, too.
The reality is that we still have to continue to deliver safe, quality social housing for the next generation of customers, and we still have to learn to do even more, with less and less. Despite the jackpot for new build, we have our existing stock to nurture. Our 13,000 homes need just as much love, and our neighbourhoods need impactful support and initiatives that help them flourish.
Coming back to the here and now, Livv’s current corporate plan is in its ‘home-stretch’ year. Entitled Doing More (2023-2026), we’ve shown what can be achieved with creativity of delivery, alignment and the shared values of partners.
Working in collaboration, and with Homes England funding for example, we’ve delivered 191 new affordable homes at our Watchfactory phase 2 development, unveiled 26 affordable homes for shared ownership and Rent to Buy at our Berrywood scheme developed with the Brownfield Land Fund, and handed over 49 homes for affordable rent, for customers aged 55 and over, in Sandymoor.
“The reality is that we still have to continue to deliver safe, quality social housing for the next generation of customers, and we still have to learn to do even more, with less and less”
As I guide the tiller of the planning for our next corporate plan, the third under my tenure as chief executive, the title of Doing More’s sequel to underpin the timeline 2026-29 is yet to be defined. ‘Doing More Part 2’ or ‘Doing Even More’ capture the working spirit and direction of travel – imagination, ingenuity, inspiration, initiative, innovation.
All the Is have to be on the prize to deliver the positive impact and flourishing communities that underpin Livv’s mission. I see the non-negotiables that need to be navigated on the horizon:
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We have to find new ways to provide the customer service of the future, taking our inspiration from the likes of Amazon for its approach to communications and John Lewis for its strong reputation.
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We have to continue to invest in our existing homes, build new homes and protect the planet with our approach to net-zero carbon.
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We have to continue to embrace technology and the opportunities it presents in predictive analysis and trend-spotting, so we can respond first, not react and firefight.
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As a V1/G1 rated landlord, we have to make decisions that continue to protect our reserves, which are essential for maintaining financial stability and supporting growth.
As a sector, we must carve the answers out for ourselves and bring the ‘outside in’, exploring and learning from the private sector and retail, for example. What can they share with us as key inspiration and innovation that we can bring to our customers and employees?
I’ve seen the power of this knowledge transfer first-hand and put it into practise at Livv. As an alumna of the Wavelength leadership development programme, I visited Greggs, Pret A Manger and Amazon to gather their insights: data and people are the two biggest enablers.
So, I doubled the size of Livv’s business intelligence team to power up our decision-making. Our data on customer typologies was overlaid with data on those at most risk of fuel poverty. They had energy-efficiency improvements to take their homes to an Energy Performance Certificate rating of Band C carried out first.
That’s smarter thinking fuelled with outside-in ethos, pursuing innovation that’s pivotal to the core of a housing business, innovation for purpose.
As a sector, we literally cannot afford not to innovate. If we don’t, we’ll stagnate, so it’s either ‘do it’, ‘dinosaur’ or ‘be Darwinian’. The sector can’t slow walk into its own extinction at the expense of its evolution. Our customers deserve more to come home to.
Leann Hearne, chief executive, Livv Housing Group
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