The Week in Housing: Jenrick takes aim at standards and pay

On day one, a range of topics was covered. The annual Savills and Social Housing survey gave an important insight into how the sector is changing. After years of focus on new supply and building targets, it seems as if the sector has shifted its focus more towards existing stock. This played out in the statistics, with 85% of the 138 housing association respondents putting investment in existing stock at the top of their priority list. It is easy to understand why, what with the myriad of headaches landlords face regarding existing stock – whether in the form of building safety, net zero, or the increasing scrutiny of repairs issues across the sector.

The main draw on day one was the housing minister. As the auditorium waited for Christopher, Pincher to arrive on stage, there was an audible groan when it was confirmed that it would be a pre-recorded message.

In truth, the speech lacked any real substance and included the regurgitating of policies and actions carried out by the government, which were largely already known about. What it didn’t include, though, was any mention of building safety or existing tenants. With 85% of associations putting existing stock as their top priority, many were understandably miffed.

Tuesday was the day of the opposition, with senior Labour politicians taking centre stage. The day began with shadow housing secretary Lucy Powell talking through Labour’s housing approach. This included a plan to increase the scrutiny of landlords letting properties to those receiving housing benefit. Through action she wanted to ensure that conditions for these people were of a standard and monitored, rather than the “no strings attached” approach she believes are currently in operation.

After Ms Powell’s keynote, we saw Andy Burnham take to the stage for a one-on-one interview. At the heart of his speech was the call for the government to back his levelling-up plan for Manchester. After a testing 12 months for the relationship between Whitehall and the Greater Manchester mayor, it will be interesting to see how the government responds. Mr Burnham says that he is ready to draw a line in the sand.

While day three might have seen the crowds thin a bit, there were still many more sessions going on across the conference, which I have previously heard referred to as the “Glastonbury of housing”.

Keeping on with that theme, Thursday saw the conference’s headliner Robert Jenrick take to the stage after some impressive improv by Chartered Institute of Housing boss Gavin Smart. OK, he took to the stage on a big screen through a video link, but at least he was live and took questions.

There were a lot of interesting titbits from Mr Jenrick, who looks like he is going to be busy in the coming weeks. First, he revealed that the highly controversial piece of government fire safety guidance – the consolidated advice note, which has been responsible for pulling tens of thousands of people into the cladding crisis – would be removed in a matter of weeks. And then he trailed more details about the government’s planning changes, revealing that councils would have control over how they spent the money earned through an Infrastructure Levy. The levy, which is going to replace Section 106, has caused some worry for a sector that two years ago secured nearly half their homes through the current planning obligation.

But it was Mr Jenrick’s comments about the sector’s performance in terms of existing tenants that would have pricked up the ears of those in attendance, particularly the chief executives. Answering a question on the recent ITV News investigation that exposed poor conditions and repairs issues in social housing developments, Mr Jenrick accused some landlords of giving the sector a bad image. He then proceeded to take aim at executive pay, saying that what he feels are overinflated wages have symbolised the sector’s move away from the ideals of those who led the sector previously.

This is the second time we have heard Mr Jenrick share this sentiment, and it is interesting to speculate on why he is pushing this repeated messaging. With an in-depth ITV investigation coming out this weekend, it could be a tactic to remove the government to try and to position them further away from the problem and paint a picture of social landlord fatcats who have lost their way

Either way, it is not a good position to be in, where a minister is so openly critical among an audience full of the people he is criticising.

With a Spending Review in the not-too-distant future, the tension between sector and government couldn’t come at a worse time.

Jack Simpson, news editor

@JSimpsonjourno

Editor’s picks: five must-read stories

1. Councils to be given power to set new single Infrastructure Levy locally, says Jenrick
2. Housing sector has lost ‘empathy’, says tenant body leader
3. More housing associations reveal delivery partners for Homes England bids
4. More than one in six social homes ‘uneconomical’ to upgrade to net zero, research finds
5. Lease-based provider judged non-compliant by regulator