Warm Homes, Green Jobs at Labour Party Conference!

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We launched our new research report ‘Warm Homes, Green Jobs: Meeting the Net Zero challenge in the North’ at an event during the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool.

The event was attended by NHC members, contractors, MPs and other key stakeholders, who heard from the NHC’s Tom Kennedy as he presented on the key findings, and solutions, from the research.

Following the presentation, MP for Blaydon and Consett, Liz Twist, and new MP for Middlesborough South and East Cleveland, Luke Myer, responded to the research and gave reflections based on their own constituencies, as well as detailing the Government’s plans to improve the energy efficiency of homes through its Warm Homes Plan.

Warm Homes, Green Jobs sets out how the social housing sector can take the lead in delivering warmer, greener homes across the North. This has the potential to create up to 77,000 good green jobs for northerners.

As part of the research, 36 interviews were conducted with 50 people, including representatives from social housing landlords, local authorities, Mayoral Combined Authorities, contractors, and others who are working to decarbonise the North’s social housing.

Some of these representatives were at the event, and on the panel of speakers we had Tony Cahill Executive Director for Property at Livv Housing, who spoke about Livv’s exemplar approach to retrofitting homes, and the importance of devolution. Attendees also heard from contractor RE:GEN, with Tom Lamb explaining their approach to tackling the green jobs skills gap by offering training to local residents through the RE:GEN Academy.

Chris Brown, Managing Director of Climatise offered his reflections on the research and challenges the sector may face. Finally, Communities that Work’s Lynsey Sweeney explained how we can develop supply chains with local people and the importance of devolving power to Mayoral Combined Authorities to do this. 

It was brilliant to have a real mix of key stakeholders in the room to discuss this research and it was clear to see the ambition in the room from social housing providers, contractors, politicians and other key stakeholders to kickstart a retrofit revolution led by the social housing sector.

All the stakeholders agreed that long-term consistent funding for decarbonising homes is vital to ensure that retrofit can be delivered at scale needed to meet net zero targets. Attendees were also in agreement that further devolution of funding is needed to give Mayoral Combined Authorities the power to lead on delivering suitable energy efficiency improvement for their communities.

We’ll be continuing to build momentum around this report and engaging with key partners to help work towards the recommendations and meet the net zero challenge in the North.

Read Warm Homes, Green Jobs here.

Autumn Budget 2024 Representation

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Earlier this month, the Northern Housing Consortium submitted its representation to HM Treasury in the run up to the new government’s first Autumn Budget, set to take place on 30th October.

Our representation focused on how the new government can support the North’s housing sector to deliver on the government’s ambitions, including building 1.5 million new homes in this parliament, delivering the Warm Homes Plan and improving housing quality in both the social and private rental sectors, by providing the long-term funding certainty that providers need to plan their own investments.

The most important thing that we need to see from government, however, is an immediate two-year extension to the current Homes England Affordable Homes Programme (AHP). Our members, especially small and medium members who access Homes England grant through the Continuous Market Engagement (CME) mechanism, report that they can no longer access grant to develop new homes, as the current programme is now essentially out of funds. If providers cannot access grant funding upon which their development programmes rely, they will not be able to bring forward schemes, even if they have been identified and are ready to progress. This cannot wait until a new AHP commences in 2026 as schemes that have been identified will be at risk of falling through between then and now. A survey of a small number of NHC members found that there are more than 1,500 homes ready for development that cannot now commence due to funding uncertainty. This issue will be much larger across the North. This data was fed in to the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG).

Without an extension to the current programme, it is likely that affordable housing starts fall in the near future, taking years to subsequently recover. This will make it much harder for the government to achieve its target of hitting its target of building 1.5 million new homes over the next 5 years.

The major policy asks to support the housing sector in the North are:

  1. A two-year extension to the existing Affordable Homes Programme to keep housing providers developing the homes we need, ahead of announcing a new post-2026 programme that can support regeneration and has the flexibility to work with Mayoral Combined Authorities to deliver on local priorities.

 

  1. A new ten-year rent settlement of CPI +1% for social landlords so they can effectively plan their own investments in new and existing homes.

 

  1. A long-term funding commitment for the decarbonisation of the North’s social housing stock of £500 million a year between 2025 and 2030, with a commitment to increase funding to minimum of £1 billion per year from 2030-2035, to cut carbon emissions, tackle fuel poverty and support the creation of up to 77,000 new good green jobs in the North.

 

  1. A ten-year, £4.2 billion, programme of devolved brownfield funding to unlock the delivery of 320,000 new homes by remediating all identified brownfield land in the North of England. This needs to be based on a more comprehensive assessment of total project benefits in line with updated value-for-money methodology.

 

  1. The government to consult on both funding and regulation, including a new Decent Homes Standard for both rental sectors, to tackle the challenges with the existing housing stock and the need to regenerate communities across the North. This will also need to include increased capacity funding for local authorities to effectively enforce any regulatory requirements in the private rental sector.

 

  1. Permanently linking Local Housing Allowance rates to the 30th percentile of local market rents to ensure private rental sector affordability and prevent future rises in homelessness

 

Tracy Harrison, Northern Housing Consortium Chief Executive, said:

“Our budget representation has focused on how the Government can target investment to enable our members to make a real difference to communities across the North. They’re  ready and waiting to support the Government to deliver new homes,  warmer homes and to regenerate communities.

“However, to deliver this change members need funding certainty. A priority is an immediate two-year extension to the existing Affordable Housing Programme. Our members, particularly smaller and medium sized providers developing through Continuous Market Engagement, report that they can no longer access grant to build new affordable homes despite having schemes that are ready to start development, stalling the delivery of much-needed homes. This must be followed by a longer-term Affordable Homes programme which will be a key part of fulfilling the government’s ambition to build £1.5 million homes over the next parliament.

Other measures which will provide members with certainty to develop and invest in homes include a ten-year rent settlement at CPI + 1% and a £4.2 billion ten year brownfield remediation fund. Investing in decarbonising the North’s homes will pay dividends – £500m investment per year over the next five years and 1 billion for the following five years would cut fuel poverty and carbon emissions and help to create 77,000 good green jobs in the North.

“The government should also provide much-needed security to those in the private rented sector on low incomes and permanently link local housing allowance to the 30th percentile of local market rents to prevent future rises in homelessness. The private rented sector has also been consistently shown to offer the lowest quality homes – it is vital that the government takes forward proposals to apply the new Decent Homes Standard to both the social and private rented sector, following effective consultation with the sector. They must also consult on funding and regulation to so we can work together to tackle the challenges with existing homes and the need to regenerate communities in the North.

“We must also recognise there isn’t ‘a one size fit’s all’ solution. If we want funding to address local issues there needs to be devolution where local leaders, including Mayoral Combined Authorities, are given the flexibility to use their funding where it’s going to bring the most benefit – for example, ensuring all areas can benefit from brownfield funding investment, not just those with high land values. We are pleased that the Labour Party was supportive of devolution in their manifesto and our members are already working to make their ambitions a reality.”

 

The full representation is available here.

Net Zero research launch at Labour Party Conference

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During this year’s Labour Party Conference in Liverpool, we are holding an event on decarbonising the North’s homes, which includes the launch of new Net Zero research from the NHC.

The event is called ‘MEETING THE NET ZERO CHALLENGE: How the new Labour Government can help accelerate green home upgrades in the North’ and will take place on Tuesday 24 September 7.15pm to 8.30pm.

Attendees will hear from those involved in the research and experts in the field about how the North’s social housing sector can support the Government to cut emissions, unlock jobs, and create the homes of the future.

We carried out this new research with housing providers, local government, combined authorities, and contractors, to identify how increasing the energy performance of social housing could be used to accelerate the transition to more energy efficient homes.

The North’s 7 million homes are contributing to climate change – with a quarter of the North’s total emissions coming from its homes. Upgrading the North’s existing homes is vital to meet the country’s net zero targets and unlock a new generation of green jobs. There is now a real opportunity to work with the social housing sector in the North to pump-prime the market for domestic retrofit – boosting supply chains, innovation, and creating around 77,000 green jobs in the North.

Join us as we discuss priorities for the new Labour government and how the social housing sector, local government and elected mayors can kickstart the wider decarbonisation of our nation’s homes.

If you would like to attend, please contact josef.bews@northern-consortium.org.uk

10-year Rent formula being calculated by Rachel Reeves

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There is speculation that the Chancellor, Rt. Hon. Rachel Reeves MP, plans to introduce a 10-year formula for social rent. Media reports say this will aim to give providers more financial certainty and confidence to invest and develop their communities. The formula, if announced, would result in rents increasing annually with the rate of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) +1%

The NHC supports a longer term plan for rents, as set out in our manifesto Building the Future of Housing in the North

Our chief executive, Tracy Harrison, commented on the reports:

“These are welcome signs that government has been listening to the sector. Over the last 10 years, we have seen the rent settlement changed repeatedly – despite a previous 10-year guarantee. This has fundamentally undermined the business model of social housing providers, impacting much-needed investment in new and existing homes.

“We need a 10-year rent guarantee of Consumer Price Index (CPI) + 1% to support housing providers to unlock a new wave of investment, in both developing new homes and improving existing homes. We look forward to government’s decision on this in the autumn Budget.

“We and others have been consistently asking government to deliver a long-term financial settlement for the social housing sector, including long-term certainty over rents and future grant funding. Crucially, the sector needs to see a new Affordable Homes Programme, with the scale and flexibility to meet the North’s affordable housing challenge, as landlords plan their future developments beyond the existing programme.”

 

Housing Ombudsman and Regulator for Social Housing agree a memorandum of understanding

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The Housing Ombudsman service (HOS) and Regulator for Social Housing (RSH) have published a memorandum of understanding (MOU), described as

“a statement of intent as to the continued framework of communication, cooperation and exchange of information between the parties”

The document includes two key areas

  • Working together
  • Information sharing

Working together

This section highlights how the two regulatory bodies will make sure they are complementary and compatible within their respective roles. Communication features strongly in the MOU and includes early communication on significant issues, and regular meetings between the two bodies. Signposting and promotion of their respective roles are also featured.

Information sharing

Information about registered providers will be shared between the two bodies. This will include information on specific cases, and on patterns of risks that are identified within their work.

Judgements from HOS and RSH will be shared between the two organisations before they are published.

The full text of the MOU is available at here.

 

Government announcements on planning reform, right to buy and investment in social housing

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Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, Angela Rayner, has announced a suite of changes to housing and planning policy as one of the new government’s first major efforts to “get Britain building again”. Announcements covered policy areas including the Right to Buy, significant reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), the future rent settlement for registered providers and plans for investing in new affordable homes.

 

Future spending plans

After extensive calls from the housing sector on the need for certainty about future government spending plans on housing, the Secretary of State laid out the Government’s intentions in two key areas.

The Government has confirmed that there will be an Autumn Budget on 30th October, and a full Spending Review next spring. The Secretary of State said that the Government “will set out plans at the next fiscal event to give councils and housing associations the rent stability they need to be able to borrow and invest in both new and existing homes, while also ensuring that there are appropriate protections for both existing and future social housing tenants”, and that they “bring forward details of future Government investment in social and affordable housing at the Spending Review”.

We are continuing to press Government to announce a new Affordable Homes Programme quickly to ensure development can continue. In ‘Building the Future of Housing in the North’ we set out the need for a long-term programme, which supports regeneration as well as supply, allows Mayoral Combined Authorities to direct priorities locally to better meet local needs, and includes social rent as the main tenure.

 

Right to Buy

There were also a series of announcements, with special relevance for local authority landlords, relating to the Right to Buy. Firstly, the Secretary of State announced that the government will be removing the cap on the percentage of replacement homes that can be delivered as acquisitions, as well as the cap on the percentage cost of a replacement home that can be funded using Right to Buy receipts (both currently 50%). In addition, local authorities will be able to combine Right to Buy receipts with section 106 contributions to deliver new homes. These reforms will be implemented for an initial two years and then reviewed.

The Secretary of State also confirmed that the Government has started a review into the elevated Right to Buy discount rates introduced in 2012, with changes to be implemented in the Autumn of this year.

Finally, the Government intends to carry out a wider review of the Right to Buy later this year, focusing on eligibility and potential additional protections that could be provided for newly built homes.

In ‘Building the Future of Housing in the North’, the Northern Housing Consortium called for the removal of restrictions on how local authorities could spend their Right to Buy receipts, and for the Right to Buy, including the setting of discount rates, to be devolved to local authorities so they can ensure the policy does not act as a disincentive to developing new affordable housing within their areas.

 

Reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF)

The announcement which grabbed the most attention, however, was the release of a consultation on a revised NPPF. The Secretary of State confirmed that mandatory housing targets would be reintroduced for English local authorities, and all councils would be required to allocate sufficient land to meet the targets in an up-to-date Local Plan, or risk losing their plan-making powers.

New housing targets will also be developed using a revised ‘Standard Method’ to establish housing need in each local authority area. This new method aims to spread housing development across the country to a greater extent, and direct housing development towards areas where affordability pressures are higher.

The proposals also remove the ‘urban uplift’ which previously increased housing targets in the 15 largest urban areas in England by 35%. In the North, areas covered by the uplift were Bradford, Hull, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle and Sheffield.

The impact of the new method is that total housing targets have increased from approximately 300,000 to 370,000 new homes per year, with significant increases across the North. A regional breakdown can be found below:

Region Current method Proposed method % change
East Midlands 20,793 27,382 + 32%
East of England 35,101 44,858 + 28%
London 98,822 80,693 -18%
North East 6,123 12,202 +99%
North West 21,497 37,817 +76%
South East 51,251 69,060 +35%
South West 28,203 40,343 +43%
West Midlands 24,734 31,754 +28%
Yorkshire & Humber 18,699 27,433 +47%
North 46,319 77,452 + 67%
England 305,223 371,541 + 22%

 

Proposed housing targets at the local authority level can be found here.

 

Brownfield first

The Secretary of State also reconfirmed the government’s commitment to taking a ‘brownfield first’ approach to development, saying that previously developed sites should be the “first port of call” for future development and that the default answer for a proposed brownfield development should be “yes”.

Local authorities will, however, be required to reassess their greenbelt land if they cannot allocate enough land to meet housing need otherwise. Any review of the greenbelt should identify and prioritise ‘greybelt’ land, deemed of little natural or aesthetic value, with a full definition of ‘grey belt’ coming later in the year.

Any development on the ‘grey belt’ will be accompanied by so called ‘golden rules’ to ensure a 50% affordable housing contribution and access to infrastructure and green spaces as part of any development.

All other land use protections for environmental reasons will remain.

We recently published new research on the opportunities and challenges for Brownfield land in the North. Read Brownfield First: How devolved brownfield funding can build a new generation of homes in the North.

 

New Towns Taskforce

Finally, the government has also announced the establishment of a New Towns Taskforce to be Chaired by Sir Michael Lyons with Dame Kate Barker to serve as Deputy Chair. The taskforce will identify a final shortlist of recommendations and appropriate locations for new towns within 12 months. New towns will be large-scale new communities of at least 10,000 homes each, with a requirement of at least 40% affordable housing, and will include both new settlements as well as extensions to existing towns or cities.

Following all these announcements, the Secretary of State and Housing Minister held a ministerial roundtable with key stakeholders from the affordable housing sector. This included Northern Housing Consortium Chief Executive, Tracy Harrison. Further information on the roundtable can be found here.

More detail on the Secretary of State’s announcements on future spending, the Right to Buy and planning reform can be found here.

Matthew Pennycook, the Minister for Housing wrote to housing sector stakeholders laying out the government’s plans for housing in one place. This letter can be found here.

 

The key announcements for housing as Starmer names first cabinet

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The key announcements for housing as Starmer names first cabinet

As Keir Starmer settles into his first month as prime minister, he has announced his first cabinet. We’ve summarised the key announcements for housing in the North including some of the key ministerial appointments made.

As expected, the prime minister has made MP for Leeds West & Pudsey, Rachel Reeves, Chancellor of the Exchequer. It is also no surprise that Deputy PM and MP for Ashton-under-Lyne, Angela Rayner, has been appointed Secretary of State at the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG). MHCLG has been renamed, having previously been the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.

A key appointment for the housing sector is the Minister for Housing. London MP Matthew Pennycook has been appointed by Rayner to this role, having been Shadow Minister for Housing since 2021. Another key appointment is Jim McMahon, who joins Matthew Pennycook as a Minister of State in Rayner’s team. McMahon, the MP for Oldham West, will likely take on the English Devolution and Local Government brief which he held the Shadow portfolio for. This is yet to be confirmed.

Angela Rayner has also appointed Alex Norris MP, Rushanara Ali MP, Baroness Taylor and Lord Khan as junior ministers at MHCLG.

Doncaster North MP Ed Miliband has been appointed Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero. We were pleased to meet with Miliband last year on a visit in Doncaster to see green home upgrades carried out on homes managed by St Leger Homes.

MP for Pontefract, Castleford and Knottingley, Yvette Cooper, has been confirmed as Home Secretary, with London MP Wes Streeting appointed Secretary of State for Health and Social Care.

There were further northern MPs appointed to Cabinet, with Stalybridge and Hyde MP Jonathan Reynolds appointed Secretary of State for Business and Trade. Sheffield Heeley MP Louise Haigh has been appointed Secretary of State at the Department for Transport and Wigan MP Lisa Nandy has been given the Secretary of State brief for Culture, Media and Sport.

MP for Blaydon and Consett, Liz Twist, has also been announced as a Parliamentary Private Secretary to Keir Starmer. We were delighted to have Liz attend and speak at our 50th anniversary celebration in Parliament in July.

See the full cabinet here.

We’ve also published a General Election 2024 briefing with details of each MP elected to every constituency across the North.

 

Zarach: Help tackle bed poverty across the North

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Charity Zarach share more about the work they do to make sure every child has a bed to sleep in and how you can get involved.

What is Zarach?

Zarach is a charity set up by Deputy Headteacher Bex Wilson when she discovered one of her pupils didn’t have a bed and was sleeping on an uncarpeted floor on a cushion infested with bed bugs. We partner with schools to identify children experiencing #BedPoverty. When they are referred to us we provide a brand new bed, mattress, bedding and pyjamas.

What is bed poverty? 

Bed Poverty is defined in the Barnardo’s report ‘No Crib for a Bed’ as not having the sleeping arrangements they require due to a lack of financial resources. The report estimates there are 900,000 children in the UK affected by this shocking issue. We want to change the narrative and ensure no child is too tired to get the most out of their time in the classroom.

How can Northern Housing Consortium and Zarach work together to support children & families?

Many of the families we support either live in social housing or in private rented accommodation.  We hope to support the families your members work with and in turn hope that you may be able to support us to continue offering our vital service.

What does Zarach offer?

– We currently operate in West Yorkshire (apart from Wakefield – yet), Romford, Stockport, Liverpool (Liverpool City Local Authority only), Stoke & the Tees Valley (currently only Hartlepool & Stockton)

If you have housing stock in this area, families in these homes can be referred by the child’s school for support with beds & bedding. Please email referrals@zarach.org if you would like any further information on referring families in these areas.

How could you support Zarach? 

Zarach would love to serve more areas in the North, however, we need to ensure we have the resources required to do so. There are several ways you can support Zarach:

🧡 Follow us across all our socials to allow us to increase our profile in the region. Our handle across Facebook / Instagram / X / LinkedIn is @ZarachCharity.

🧡 Consider fundraising for Zarach – if this is something you are interested in please email fundraising@zarach.org for support & further information.

🧡 Could your organisation support Zarach as part of your Corporate Social Responsibility. If so please email jess@zarach.org

🧡 Give a one-off or regular donation – www.zarach.org/donate

Thanks in anticipation of your help to change the narrative for children throughout the North.