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Orr calls for optimism in final speech to sector
David Orr has called for optimism as housing associations face up to “enormous challenges” in his final speech at a National Housing Federation (NHF) conference.
Mr Orr, who is retiring as chief executive of the sector trade body after 13 years in post, paid tribute to the “inspiring” work of housing associations and the support of his family.
“Have we got everything right, no we haven’t. I mean we need to be honest about this, don’t we?” he said, referencing the Grenfell disaster and noting that tenant satisfaction levels are “not as high as they used to be”.
“And those of us who said we’ve maybe taken our eye off the ball with that a little bit, they might just have a point.”
But he insisted the sector is “brilliant at responding to that challenge”.
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To a standing ovation he ended his address by saying: “We are a huge, important sector, we care. We have social purpose, we are mission driven. We have assets, we have creativity, we have the ability to imagine a future that’s better than the present and invest in delivering it.”
During a long speech delivered without notes – for which he has become well known – Mr Orr emphasised that the relationship with tenants “is a relationship that you have to get right every time”.
His message was at times tough. He told the conference: “Today in 2018, there are 120,000 children living in temporary accommodation.
“We’ve done our best, folks, but it ain’t good enough. It is just not good enough.
“Not by us, not by our colleagues in local government, not by people in central government, not by the people who invest. As a nation, that is a record of failure.”
.@natfedDavid closes by saying thank you. He said it more eloquently than we could tweet, so here’s the video. Thank you too, David 🙏👏 pic.twitter.com/SXsYKmTWCh
— National Housing Fed (@natfednews).@natfedDavid closes by saying thank you. He said it more eloquently than we could tweet, so here's the video. Thank you too, David \uD83D\uDE4F\uD83D\uDC4F pic.twitter.com/SXsYKmTWCh
— National Housing Fed (@natfednews) September 20, 2018
However, he insisted, “it does not have to be like that”.
He also praised Kate Henderson, his replacement – saying he has “no doubt at all” that she will be “a brilliant chief executive of the National Housing Federation”.
And he said housing associations should guard their social principles “with our lives”, while using “whatever works” to deliver them.
He was joined on stage by his family, including two grandchildren, as he left to rousing applause and a standing ovation from the hall of delegates.
