Bjorn Howard, group CEO at housing association, Aster Group, welcomes Labour’s opening announcements on housing and calls for an era of increased collaboration between Westminster and the social housing sector.
In the weeks since the general election, Labour has done what it pledged to and put housing at the forefront of policy agenda.
Reinstating and increasing compulsory housing targets and a renewed focus on affordable and social housing delivery have, as was promised, been front and centre in the policy plans coming out of the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG). It was clear when Angela Rayner launched the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) consultation in July, that she recognises housing associations’ crucial role in boosting affordable development – I, like many in our sector, look forward to more detail on how the government intends to remove red tape and delays from planning to make that ambition a reality.
The government will need to unlock every possible opportunity for housing development to hit its 1.5million new homes pledge. That, I believe, is going to require a change in emphasis in some key areas.
Put communities at the heart of housing
Increasing the quantity of homes we build is important, but quality and diversity in the types of housing delivered, and the methods we use to do so, will be key to making sure local and national housing needs are met.
That is going to make housing associations a vital collaborator, but it will mean that giving communities more of a voice becomes essential as well – the impetus to build more must be matched by a focus on delivering the types of homes that local people actually need.
In a recent survey of UK adults, we found that 69% of people think that communities should have a greater say over the housing built in their area. In fact, almost a third thought there should be more housing projects that are directly owned by community groups (31%) and a further 31% were in favour of replacing planning committees with citizen assemblies.
There is, however, already a mechanism in place to give communities more ownership over what housing is built in their area. Community Land Trusts (CLTs) place communities at the heart of housing developments and remain an underutilised tool for housing delivery. To truly address the needs of the local communities, CLTs could be one way to do so. Our survey respondents agree, with 67% of them expressing support for more homes to be built and managed by CLTs.
Champion affordable ownership
Rayner’s speech on the NPPF included that planning reform would do more to encourage mixed-used housing projects. Offering a mix of tenures has always been our approach to give our communities more choice to meet their needs. Having the right balance of tenures, tailored to local communities, is absolutely essential.
Within that, we must also recognise that there not being enough affordable homes to own is a fundamental part of the UK’s housing problem. Some 60% of our survey respondents agreed that more shared ownership homes are needed, for example.
We’ve helped over 4,000 people secure a home through shared ownership and understand just how important a cog in the housing machine it has been for decades. It negates the need for people to save for the hefty deposit associated with a traditional mortgage, gets them out of expensive private rental agreements, provides long-term security and allows them to set down roots in their community. From a business perspective, the profits from shared ownership sales also help us to reinvest money into delivering more rented homes.
There are 250,000 shared ownership households in England – that’s around 600,000 people for whom shared ownership was the right option. There are thousands more people in similar situations, we just need to make the homes available.
Foster collaboration between affordable developers and private housebuilders
After the uncertainty around the Infrastructure Levy, it was reassuring to have clarity from the NPPF consultation that the government is going to continue with the current Section 106 (S106) arrangement.
We have a sizeable land-led programme and believe it is important not to rely on any one delivery method. But even so, 60% of our homes are currently built through S106 agreements, showing just how integral the mechanism is to ensure affordable home provision. It is a vital part of our plans to invest £900million in building 3,500 new homes in the next three years.
For our S106 programme, we work closely with housebuilders who place quality, design and good services at the forefront of delivery. When a partnership between social and private developers gets the balance right, it is a powerful vehicle for housing delivery. I hope that in clarifying the position on S106 and the now-discarded Infrastructure Levy, this government is considering how better collaboration in the housing sector can be fostered or even incentivised.
Meeting the 1.5million target is eminently possible but it will require more than new legislation and planning frameworks – there will need to be a far greater focus on partnership and collaboration from all stakeholders – from the government, right through to the communities that it serves.
