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Editor’s comment Hitting the ground running is a welcome sign of intent


Patrick Mooney, News Editor


Well the new Government didn’t waste any time in setting out its intentions to revitalise the housebuilding sector with an array of announcements on planning reforms, building a series of new towns and making use of the ‘grey belt’. T e re-introduction of nationally imposed targets for housebuilding will no doubt upset a lot of people, but history has shown that this sort of focus is necessary if we are fi x the housing supply crisis. Promises that new infrastructure, such as new schools and GP surgeries will be built to support the new houses may quell some of the opposition.


T e Deputy Prime Minister has stated that the building of new social and aff ordable homes is her number one priority, which many of us working in the sector will applaud, but the task will require an awful lot of resources – new planning offi cers, new construction workers, a new set of local plans and above all lots and lots of money. It will take a monumental eff ort if local councils, housing associations and private builders are to achieve an average new build rate of 370,000 homes a year, but this is the sort of target that is needed if we are to eliminate the national waiting list of approximately 1.3 million households and the record numbers of homeless, with around 145,000 children living in temporary accommodation. T e right to buy is to be re-examined with strong hints given that qualifying periods of residence will be lengthened, discounts may be reduced and local authorities given more fl exibility to use the receipts to build replacement homes.


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T ere are of course many other housing issues for the Government to tackle – including the ending of Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions, the appalling rates of rough sleeping, private rents that are rising at their fastest rate in over a decade and years of underinvestment in our current housing which is seeing thousands of families living in unfi t homes. Ministers have committed to introducing a new Decent Homes Standard and extending its application to the private rented sector, but we need to see how this will be delivered and funded. T ey have also committed to delivering Awaab’s Law to both the private and social sectors, ensuring damp and mouldy homes are fi xed within short timescales.


T e solution to some of these problems will be seen in the introduction of the Renters’ Rights Bill, similar to the Bill introduced by the previous Government before being dropped prior to the election. T e new Bill seeks to level the playing fi eld between landlord and tenant and gives renters more security over their living conditions. T e Bill also introduces further provisions to strengthen the rights of tenants, such as - clarifying the grounds on when landlords may retake possession of their property; making it easier for tenants to challenge rent increases; creating a new ombudsman service in the private rented sector to encourage the use of alternative dispute resolution; creating a database of landlords, so that tenants will have more information when deciding whether to rent a particular property; and making it illegal for landlords to discriminate against tenants with children or who are in receipt of benefi ts.


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Patrick Mooney


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T e recently published English Housing Survey has highlighted that there is much more required to modernise our housing conditions, while reports from the Housing Ombudsman show that many landlords’ ability to deal with fairly basic issues such as completing window repairs is compromised and complaints from tenants are oſt en disregarded for long periods of time. It shouldn’t really need new legislation to sort out problems like these. Collectively the housing sector needs to match the Government’s ambition and intent. Staff at all levels in all housing organisations need to up their game and ensure that new and existing homes are fi t for purpose, and that services to tenants are delivered to a high standard. If we do not, then the Government may take decisive steps to improve service quality – the approach being taken to planning reforms should be seen as an example of their fresh approach.


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