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Government and ministers are working on “all contingencies” for the sector in the event of a no-deal Brexit, housing secretary James Brokenshire has told Inside Housing.
When asked by the magazine if the government would consider increased grant funding for social housing in the case of a no deal, Mr Brokenshire said: “Clearly I’m still working on all contingencies, [and] the work that we are doing as a department [is] around that, but our focus remains on the key option, which is getting a deal across the line and making that happen.”
The comments come four weeks after mayor of London Sadiq Khan sent a letter to the housing secretary calling on the government to provide £5.2bn of emergency grant for housing in the event of a no deal.
The Greater London Authority has yet to receive a response to the letter but this is the first indication that the government is actively making a ‘no-deal’ plan for the sector.
At the time of writing (Wednesday), MPs were preparing to vote on their preferred Brexit options, while it remained unclear when Theresa May would bring her proposed deal to parliament for the third time.
John Healey, Labour’s shadow housing secretary, told Inside Housing that the government needed to commit to a stimulus package of at least £4bn next year to build the low-cost homes needed after Brexit.
Mark Henderson, chief executive of Home Group, said that he was pleased that government was looking at a no-deal scenario, but that it was important that the plan did not compound the issues facing the sector.
The G15 group of London landlords discussed the implications of a no-deal Brexit for the capital’s market.
Geeta Nanda, chief executive of Metropolitan Thames Valley, said: “It is whether we’ll be able to move our sales programme to a rented programme, and whether there will be more grant to deal with that.”
Despite the uncertainty over Brexit, housing associations are continuing to ready themselves for all scenarios, following a letter from the regulator warning about key risks.
Jon Lord, chief executive of Bolton at Home, said the organisation had been assessing which contracts for projects and repair works relied on imported materials. He added that if parliament backed Ms May’s deal, it would result in much softer implications for the organisation.
Brian Cronin, chief executive of Your Housing Group, said: “Our main concern is maintaining liquidity, or if contracts go astray on sites. But we work to a 24-month liquidity and we plan to maintain that.”
Mark Washer, chief executive of Sovereign, said that the organisation had been preparing for leaving the EU for some time. He added that while the organisation would value more clarity and longer term certainty, it was in a position to meet its development ambitions, and would adjust its approach if needed.
Brexit and the social housing sector: the key risks As the tortuous process of exiting the European Union approaches its denouement, the country remains in a state of uncertainty about what exactly is going to happen. Peter Apps recaps the key risks to the social housing sector
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What housing associations are doing to stress-test for Brexit With the UK’s departure from the EU looming, Luke Barratt looks at what housing associations have been doing to prepare
Regulator writes to housing associations with no-deal Brexit warning The regulator has issued a warning to housing associations over the threat of a no-deal Brexit, outlining key risk areas including shortages of crucial materials, a housing market crash and difficulties accessing ‘business-critical’ data
Sector draws up contingency plans for no-deal Brexit The country’s largest housing associations are putting in place contingency plans to protect the future of their organisations
How would the sector cope with a no-deal Brexit? As uncertainty around Brexit mounts and a no-deal looms, Inside Housing asks what it could mean for the housing sector
Current grant system won’t work in a falling market The government needs to think again about grant to prevent housing association development from collapsing in a falling market, writes Matthew Bailes.
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