18 COMMENT THE SOCIAL NETWORK
Patrick Mooney, managing director at Mooney Thompson Consulting
TIME TO DELIVER ON THE PM’S FRESH COMMITMENT TO SOCIAL HOUSING
Patrick Mooney, housing consultant and news editor of Housing Management & Maintenance, says it’s time for councils to deliver now the borrowing cap has been lifted.
AS EVER THE DEVIL WILL BE IN THE DETAIL, BUT FOR THE MOMENT IT IS ACCEPTED THAT THIS COULD BE A REAL GAME- CHANGER
WWW.HBDONLINE.CO.UK
he Government’s surprise decision to lift the borrowing cap on local authorities so they can expand the building of new council homes was one of the most welcome pieces of news of recent times. As ever, the devil will be in the detail, but for the moment it is accepted that this could be a real game-changer that delivers long-overdue and much demanded freedom for councils to provide the affordable homes their communities so badly need. It is right up there with the Decent Homes programme, which saw millions of existing homes modernised and tenants’ lives made more comfortable. In a series of announcements, Prime Minister Theresa May suddenly appears to be delivering on her often-made statement that finding a solution to our broken housing market is her number one domestic policy priority. There were warm and encouraging words in
T
the first ever Prime Ministerial speech to the National Housing Federation for the contribu- tion that housing associations can make, coupled with a commitment to invest another £2bn in the affordable housebuilding programme. Taken alongside the announcement at the Conservative Party Conference to lift the cap on council borrowing, this provides the most positive environment for social housing in living memory.
PRUDENCE We know the money will not magically appear overnight – the Government simply has too many demands on its resources right now – but taken together, there appears to be an under- standing that housing has probably become a key issue at the next general election. It could make the difference in what promises to be a tight contest. And that could come sooner rather than later, given the parlous state of the Brexit
negotiations in Brussels and Westminster. It is hoped that within a couple of years councils could be building at least 10,000 new homes a year (maybe more), to contribute towards the ambitious target of 300,000 homes a year that has been set. But seeing is believing, and the Budget should provide more details of how the lifting of the cap will work. Of course, there will be some constraints. The borrowing will need to be done within prudential limits but this is to be expected and amounts to no more than living within your means and not taking out loans that cannot be repaid. Local Government probably has a better record than Westminster on that particular score! Indeed, some councils have managed to run decent sized development programmes in recent years and it’s likely that officers at authorities like Sheffield and Bournemouth will be in strong demand to share their experiences and know how. But the failure of Local Housing Companies to build houses in any meaningful numbers provides a cautionary note. We need to ensure that Whitehall red-tape does not stymie this initiative.
STIMULUS
The new council housebuilding programme can provide a much needed stimulus to local economies and help the private housing market and commercial developments to kickstart themselves into life. Ten years of austerity and the growth of on-line shopping have taken their toll – this can be seen in deserted high streets and empty town centres across the country. Of course one major hurdle to overcome will
be: do we have the labour and skills to deliver all of this new building activity? The construction sector has been warning us for the last few years that it is facing a crisis with retirements and
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52
