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Homes England boss: we will listen to sector over support needs during coronavirus crisis
The chief executive of Homes England has said the organisations will “listen carefully” to the sector on the support it needs during the coronavirus pandemic.
In a statement marking the end of the financial year, Nick Walkley said: “Coronavirus is having a major impact on the sector, and everyone at Homes England understands that our partners are having to adjust and make difficult decisions about what is best for their business and their workforce.
“Homes England will not rush to judgement about how we should respond. We will take the time to engage with and listen carefully to the sector and proactively seek input on the support it needs.
“More than ever, we need to come together and focus on getting through the challenges ahead of us.”
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It comes a week after a number of large developing housing associations confirmed to Inside Housing that the majority of their sites had closed as contractors responded to social distancing measures announced by the government.
The majority of the country’s largest private house builders, including Taylor Wimpey, Galliard Homes and Barratt Homes, have also closed their sites over the past two weeks in response to the crisis.
Mr Walkley added: “Our ability to overcome difficulties as a sector has been hugely evident in the past few weeks.
“Thanks to the hard work, creativity and determination of our partners right across the industry, we have managed to do some significant business.
“Continuing to build a development pipeline becomes even more important at a time like this.”
In his statement the boss of Homes England also highlighted a number of big announcements made by the organisation over the past year, including a deal to bring Japan’s biggest house builder, Sekisui House, into the UK.
Mr Walkley: “It’s for this reason we’re still fully operational and determined to continue doing business.
“Despite the technological challenges of working remotely, we’ve had a strong end to the year and will continue to work with partners to support the government’s housebuilding objectives and create the opportunities for the industry to thrive.”
