Lack of demand for flats in London makes it difficult to cross-subsidise social housing, says major landlord

Towards the end of last year, the government published plans for a set of emergency measures to resuscitate housebuilding in London, including cutting affordable targets and grants for developers.

Demand is partly being stifled due to concerns about leasehold reforms, the pace of building safety remediation and rising service charges.

Ms Fletcher-Smith was following up on points made by Ian Workman, chief national officer at Homes England, and Jo Nugent, executive regional director for the Midlands at the housing and regeneration agency.

Mr Workman was discussing some of the different types of bids he has been reviewing under the Social and Affordable Homes Programme (SAHP).

He said: “What we’re looking at is bids that can demonstrate to us that these are sites that can be delivered, and many of them do come with bids saying, ‘we already own the land, we’ve already got planning commission on the land, we just need funding to get started,’ so that’s the big one for us.”

The agency boss said his approach was also about creating the right sort of communities in the right places.

He added: “There’s got to be a holistic approach, so we look at that as well. We look at track records, we’re looking at [if we can] trust you to deliver what you said [in] your bid. Anybody can write a bid, but actually, do we trust what’s in there? 

“We must get some of the smaller bids in [the SAHP], which are things like supportive housing. I was at a great scheme in Newcastle recently, which was for young people coming out of care. That’s never going to be one of the big bids... but it’s really important. 

“So, what we’re looking for is those parts of the community that desperately need the homes, that might not be the ones that we see the big headlines about, but are really important, and then we’ve also created a social purpose.”

Ms Nugent also talked up the importance of the strategic place partnership model in her role.

She spoke of a project the agency is working on in the West Midlands Combined Authority with Birmingham City Council. The Ladywood Estate has an ambition to go from 3,000 to 10,000 homes. 

Ms Nugent explained: “We’re looking at early infrastructure delivery, we’re looking at land assembly where it’s necessary, we’re also trying to identify the phasing of delivery, so that we can actually be clear with registered providers about what that opportunity looks like.

“So there’s a bit of a tipping point as we sit here today, as Ian said, with the strategic partnerships, and we’ll be looking to see how we can broker these ongoing relationships once those partners are announced.”

Earlier in the day, Homes England chair Pat Ritchie had explained that the agency is continuing to work through the grant programme bidding process, but there is a “question as to how that will translate to any new government” in light of Sir Keir Starmer’s resignation as prime minister.