Raising the profile of
housing in the British Isles
Gavin Smart, Deputy Chief Executive
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Overall context
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Recovery - A long haul
Source: NIESR
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Unequal recovery?
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A nation of borrowers
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Growth of market renting
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House prices
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Housing Affordability
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Government housing investment
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Housing policy in the nations
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Scotland
• New Housing Act 2014
• Abolition of RTB - two year ‘notice period’ for existing
eligible tenants - RTB ends 2016
• Bedroom tax – transfer of DHP with a view to “full
mitigation”
• Continuation of social rent
• Housing, health and social care integration
• All unintentional homeless entitled to secure
accommodation – homelessness applications down 40%
• What happens post-referendum?
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Northern Ireland
• Continuing debate around future/reform of NI
Housing Exec
• Possible introduction of planning gain for affordable
housing
• Northern Ireland RTB equivalent scheme in Housing
Executive or HA tenants max discount £24,000
• Reductions in investment in affordable housing
• Political appreciation of role of affordable housing
• Major institutional reform – move to “super councils”
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Wales
• First Housing (Wales) Act next month
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National PRS licensing scheme
New stat. duty to provide homeless prevention service for all
• “Welsh solutions for Welsh problems”
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Welsh housing bond
10k Affordable homes target
Focus on developing cooperative housing
Renting homes act for whole-scale tenancy reform
Collaboration and coproduction - One-housing system under welsh
government ‘system stewardship’
Housing led regeneration
HRAs end March 2015
• RTB max discount £16k suspension allowed in areas of housing
pressure for up to five years
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England
• 65% cut in Affordable Housing Programme & affordable rent
• Increasing use of guarantees and financial instruments
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£1bn to kick start institutionally funded market rent development
Also affordable housing guarantee
Welfare Reform – without mitigation
Localism
Strong focus on supply
Preference for incentives
Concentration on home ownership
Help to Buy – 1 and 2
New regulatory framework
HRA reform - £300m extra, but caps in place
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UK wide
• Austerity – further cuts to come? £12bn more
from welfare?
• Welfare Reform – with some local variation
• Social Security total spend
• Financial Regulation e.g. Mortgage Market
Review & Bank regulation
• Interest rates
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Conclusions
• Devolution of housing policy is increasingly marked
• Something of an England vs Devolved Nations
flavour?
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English housing policy very market driven with preference
for “small state” approaches where possible
NI closest to English approach?
• Devolved nations are not homogenous, but sense of
similarity of approach/philosophy
• Critical related policy and economic levers remain
non-devolved
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Housing and public opinion
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The big issues today
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The big issues long term
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Where is housing?
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Don’t (always) believe the papers - 1
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Don’t (always) believe the papers - 2
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Don’t (always) believe the papers - 3
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Geographical differences
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Housing and the Westminster election
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Westminster election – some thoughts
• Post-devolution Westminster relationship to housing beyond
England indirect & harder to understand
• But it can set the context
• England can still export ideas elsewhere e.g. Welsh
experiments with something like affordable rent
• Currently less traffic the other way
• Housing will be a key topic
• Some English housing policy decisions will have Barnet
consequences
• Westminster still controls welfare, economics and tax & spend
envelope
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What happens after May 2015?
• Differentiation continues
• Continued “marketisation” in England?
• Revival of social housing in England if Labour
win?
• Austerity remains
• Wales & Scotland continue direction of travel
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Does referendum adjust pace in Scotland? Or
direction of travel too?
• NI – big decisions still up for grabs
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CIH & the Westminster election
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Some headline asks from CIH
• Increasing supply is critical
• Great variety of products at more price points needed
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Clear role for LCHO & social rent
• Capital investment by government works
• LAs can do more – borrowing caps raised or abolished
• Standards are as important as numbers
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Lifetime homes, wheelchair standard
• We need new entrants to the market
• Regeneration & neighbourhoods need more attention
• PRS is critically important – policies needed to incentivise standards &
reward performance
• Bedroom Tax needs to go
• Greater focus on older people & specialised housing more generally
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How do we make the case for housing?
• Clear, high level asks & easy to understand messages
• Work together – concentrate on what we agree about
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Homes for Britain
• Demonstrate the problem and the consequences
• Show what housing achieves
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Outcomes matter
Housing supports other policy goals e.g. economic growth, health,
education etc.
Good evidence is critical
• Make the case yourself! Be a local advocate for housing
• Engage with voters & with politicians
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Conclusions
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Conclusions
• There is work to do in every part of the UK
• Our national housing systems are related and still do
not work well
• Policy is increasingly differentiated
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But we still speak broadly the same policy language
• The public do care about housing – but they worry
about it too…
• Westminster election is important for housing
• We can do more to make the case
• And there is everything to play for!
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Thank you
[email protected]
Follow me on Twitter:
@GavinSmartCIH
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