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Housing association bosses have warned that the delay to Brexit has done little to decrease uncertainty in the sector, with many warning that the lack of clarity over the UK’s future relationship with the European Union is continuing to affect decisions.
Geeta Nanda, chief executive of Metropolitan Thames Valley, said that the question over the future relationship remains unclear, and that the situation could worsen if there is a change of leadership.
“[The outcome of Brexit] depends if there is a general election or a leadership contest and what the result of that is going to be.
“Do we have a Brexiteer PM who will go back [to the EU] and then be tougher in terms of their stance? I don’t think there is any more clarity in terms of the delay,” she said.
The UK and the EU agreed to extend the Brexit deadline from 12 April to 31 October after prime minister Theresa May was unable to gain sufficient support from MPs for her withdrawal deal.
All the association chief executives said unanimously that despite the uncertainty remaining, the extension was far better than the UK crashing out of the EU with no deal last week.
Paul Hackett, chair of the G15 group of housing associations and chief executive of Optivo, said that a further six months of uncertainty is not great news for the housing market and that it could mean activity slows down.
“My sense is that there is significant latent demand from home buyers in London and the South East as well as those who are wanting to sell but are waiting to see [the outcome of Brexit],” he said.
Helen Evans, chief executive of Network Homes, told Inside Housing that the delay was too short for the organisation to take a more bullish approach to development.
She added that the association would not “shut up shop” in terms of development but did say the organisation was being more cautious on major commitments before the future direction became clearer.
Nicholas Harris, chief executive of housing association Stonewater, said there was a sense of relief in the sector that the country didn’t crash out, and said the delay made it look increasingly like there would not be a hard Brexit.
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