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The government doesn’t have to choose between supporting rented housing and backing homeownership, the housing secretary has said.
Speaking at the National Housing Summit in London, James Brokenshire told the audience he wanted to build more affordable homes and help more people own their own homes.
He said: “There’s nothing contradictory about this, about building more affordable homes and helping people meet the aim of homeownership.
“I believe to say otherwise is a false choice. We have to do both, and nor is there anything contradictory about promoting homeownership and tackling stigma, another all too common false choice.”
The secretary of state’s speech came the day after Theresa May gave her support to the sector in a landmark speech hailed by many at the conference.
Ms May had already announced £2bn for housing associations, available from 2022, and Mr Brokenshire did not announce any other new policies.
In his speech, he also focused on a topic that he has mentioned multiple times since becoming housing secretary: that of beautiful design.
He told the audience: “The same goes for another false choice, that pits building more homes against building better homes.
“We’re determined to deliver 300,000 homes on average a year by the middle of next decade, but not at any price. These are not just the roofs over our heads, they are the foundations on which our lives and communities are built.”
The minister quoted the philosopher Sir Roger Scruton, who recently co-authored a report for thinktank Policy Exchange entitled Building More, Building Beautiful.
Sir Roger, according to Mr Brokenshire, said: “We are needy creatures, and our greatest need is for a home. All our attempts to make our surroundings look right, through decorating, arranging, creating, are an attempt to extend a welcome to ourselves, and to those whom we love.”
Mr Brokenshire also argued for the practical benefit of good design, saying: “Good design produces places that have helped shape and we’re proud to call home.
“It protects and strengthens the beauty of our natural environment. It adds to the value of our existing settlements for years to come, making it more likely that new developments will be welcomed rather than resisted.”