Last weeks, Chartered Institute of Housing Conference (CIH) was a fascinating mix of a sector digesting an emergency budget with a palpable air of expectancy and fear of the significant changes to come, the world cup with a rare win for England, Harrogate in the sun with as much activity happening outside the conference centre as there was within it and of course the cry of localism, localism, localism from Grant Schapps.
Interestingly, the Wikipedia page on localism cites E.F.Schumacher and Alan Milburn as influences so not natural bedfellows for Grant Schapps and Eric Pickles.?!
The message from government was (predictably) that the cuts are coming and housing must accept its fair share, the spectre of Britain becoming the next Greece was used to frame all discussions on spending priorities.
Other discussion themes in the UK Housing model included affordability, proximity to employment, worklessness, quality, sustainability and the elephant in the room of the two tier system in the private sector where those that own houses can’t afford values to drop and those that want to get on the ladder cant afford to buy unless values drop.
Grant Schnapps, in both his speech at the CIH presidents reception on Wednesday evening and his main conference speech on Thursday afternoon, reiterated that he was in “listening mode”, was committed to the sector, wanted a bottom up approach that included and empowered tenants, reduced regulation with the TSA (possibly) going. He saw the HCA’s role reduced and reframed as a facilitator and to reward work rather than worklessness and of course Eric pickles cry of localism framed the message being transmitted.
What was missing was the ‘how’ part of this conversation and also the expectations that government had for the businesses and institutions currently involved in housing, would this really mean central targets and control of funding and spending would be removed and will a government department really cede power to local institutions and delivery bodies?
The only new money that appeared to be on the table was the council tax multipier on new homes that would be kept by councils – how this would assist the social housing sector where tenants on housing benefit don’t pay council tax was unclear to say the least.
The CIH’s response to the emergency budget and also the emerging policies of the coalition was the CIH Housing Pact which highlights the vast areas of public policy that Housing covers and underlines how difficult prioritization and cost cutting will be.
The nine points of the Pact are:
1) That the government continues to invest in the building of new affordable homes with long term and flexible funding packages. In return the housing sector pledges to help make the local incentives model work, to be more innovate in pursing new partnerships and new delivery models
2) That the government acts quickly to set out how we move from national targets to localism. In return the housing sector pledges to play a key part in helping make the local incentives model work.
3) That the government anchors its reform of housing benefit in the work of the Poverty Commission and supports wider reforms of the housing system which promote mobility and real choice. In return, the housing sector will promote employment and do everything it can to tackle worklessness.
4) That the government gives housing providers more flexibility to set rents, to sell or buy the houses they need and to manage their assets in the best interests of their local communities. In return the housing sector will make the best use of their asset base.
5) That there is a housing presence on the Long Term Care Commission and that the housing minister makes a clear case to the Treasury for the continuation of Supporting People funding. In return housing professionals offer will use this money to deliver preventative support that saves precious NHS resources.
6) That the government reforms the council house funding system so that local authorities can spend their tenant’s rent money in their local area. In return housing professionals will provide supporting arguments to help to make this happen and then use the additional investment to deliver more and better homes in line with local priorities.
7)That the government prioritises retrofitting, offering incentives to encourage investment by households and private industry. In return the sector will help government reduce the 27 per cent of emissions coming from housing.
8)That government departments stop working in silos and adopt the ‘total place’ approach. In return housing professionals will do the same and use the significant efficiency savings that result to do more for less.
9)That the government recognise the work of the Tenant Services Authority (TSA) and proceed with an open mind in reviewing regulation, in particular preserving the standards approach and ensuring economic and consumer regulation continues in some form. In return the housing sector promises to drive forward continuous improvement.
In the face of the fundamental changes in the residential property landscape, with low credit availability and low house price inflation, there were signs of innovation being developed and considered, in terms of Financial, Planning Policy and Sustainability; examples being discussed and launched were Gentoos Genie – a new financial model for shared ownership, speakers at the Joseph Rowntree Trust daring to say that Brownfield targets drove the wrong market dynamics and in overall terms, greening brownfield land for beneficial use and building homes on marginal Greenfield land where people want to live and of a type they want to live in is how we will progress.
The focus on technical fixes to our energy and carbon imperatives was palpable and it was interesting that none of the vendors of the technologies on show were at the discussion on how peoples behaviours and interactions will bring the largest impact to these, and all of the challenges set out in Grant Schapps positioning statements and the CIH pact.
So overall more questions than answers. Can Government let go of control, can local institutions be given the autonomy and capacity to deliver local solutions that suit their communities? Does the grant funding and target culture of much of the Social Housing sector stifle innovation and delivery of really beneficial outcomes for tenants and the communities they live in.?
Interesting times ahead. Onto the World Sustainable Cities Summit to see if the challenges across the globe are similar.
For more information on Wood Holmes Housing and Urban Regeneration services contact paulc@woodholmes.co.uk
