National Housing Bank boss urges action now to boost early delivery as landlords mull shared ownership opportunities

He continued: “These are all choices that, candidly – we are there ultimately to go and serve the people who are either in our homes or not getting our homes today. So from our perspective, our very strong perspective, we are [focused on] delivery, delivery, delivery in the coming years.

“So I would urge you all, when you’re at a 50/50 choice, lean to the left… and go, ‘Actually, we need to get on with this now. We need to work really hard to make stuff happen.’ And… get the right balance between, obviously, being a very long-term viable sector, because you always have to be, but there is plenty of space in the middle to go, ‘Actually, we just need to get on with something.’”

Mr Century also said capacity in the sector is “not unlimited” and that “we need new entrants coming in the right kind of way to the sector”, including with the right regulation and a long-term view.

“We will support some of that, support the new entrants, but also for HAs [housing associations] in this space that want to think around how they can partner with others, how they can think around maximising their own balance sheet,” he added.

Tom Paul, chief financial officer at Southern Housing, welcomed the National Housing Bank, which aims to unlock £53bn in private investment for housebuilding, and said “there are more choices now than there ever have been” for organisations like his.

But he said there is “only so much that funding and financing can do when the fundamental challenge that we all face right now is around viability”.

Southern has withdrawn from development over recent years, with a dramatic fall in starts, but is now hoping to restart its programme as interest cover improves.

Mr Paul outlined to conference attendees several options for increasing financial viability, including “shifting some interest costs into the future” and disposing of non-social housing assets.

He also said he has been exploring the profile of shared ownership staircasing, including “whether there can be more of a financial nudge towards people taking the staircasing option”.

“Accelerating staircasing, releasing more of that equity for investment into new homes, seems like a win for everyone – a win for the shared owners because they get to own their home outright. A win for the housing associations, we get the equity back that can be reinvested. A win for the banks because they’re able to offer larger mortgages, and a win for government because we’re building more homes,” Mr Paul said.

He said Southern could use the recycled grant from that process to fund mortgage discounts.

Andy Winstanley, chief financial officer at Places for People, said his organisation is also “looking at shared ownership right now” and weighing up how to balance short-term and long-term decisions.

He told attendees: “Is it that what we’re doing is we’re potentially giving away some longer-term value if we were looking to sell those homes? 

“I agree with [Mr Century], this is something we need to do now. We can’t wait. We can’t wait for that value to drip through our business. 

“What we need to do is to make rational, sensible decisions that don’t put our longer-term future at risk, but will free up some capital right now just to go and then reinvest. We can’t do that by just extending the debt at the moment.”

He said the debt costs are “so high” at the moment that housing associations “need to look at other alternatives”.

“What we’re trying to do at [Places for People] is make sure that if we sell a home, we replace that with a new home. And I think if we can work towards that then, effectively, that’s always one additional home that is in the country, and that’s the way that we’re looking at it at the moment,” Mr Winstanley added.