Blogs and Briefings
The housing sector - facing a perfect storm?
Connect’s Lucy Holbrook attends a Smith Square debate on the housing crisis
1 December
Tuesday’s LGA event provided a good opportunity to hear from local government and housing associations on how they are responding to the current housing crisis.
Lord Best, President of the LGA and long standing campaigner on housing issues, chaired the event and outlined the action government was taking to try and stimulate the housing market. From reforming Right to Buy to making changes to planning legislation, he noted that government is not short of a housing policy or two.
Neil Hadden, Chief Executive of the event sponsor Genesis Housing, argued that the sector is facing a ‘perfect storm’ of cuts in grant, reforms to welfare policy and an increasing demand for services. He explained that the challenges for housing associations and the sector more generally are how to increase supply, how housing associations can evolve and what can be done with little government subsidy in the future.
He also suggested that government is lacking a clear vision on housing, adding that housing associations needed to rapidly seize the initiative and develop a vision for the social housing sector.
Also talking at the debate was Cllr Gerald Vernon Jackson, Leader of the Liberal Democrats in the LGA, who spoke of his experiences as the Leader of Portsmouth Council and discussed the intrinsic value of good quality housing in providing better life outcomes.
He went on to criticise a number of the government’s housing reforms such as the New Homes Bonus and Community Infrastructure Levy as well as welfare changes and changes to tenure. He also claimed that councils will have to sell three houses in order to finance the building of one council house under the new Right to Buy scheme.
Cllr Tony Newman, Opposition Leader on Croydon Council, argued that the Government had put barriers in the way of local government’s ability to deliver housing and that the sector had months to solve the crisis or “face a generation of mess”.
Judging by the comments from the audience, there was agreement that insufficient housing supply is one of the most significant problems facing local authorities and the government, and that current housing reforms are not going to be enough to generate the much needed housing.
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‘Housing Voice’, the affordable housing campaign, is holding a series of regional inquiries across the UK. Visit www.housingvoice.co.uk for more details on how you can get involved.
