The key announcements for housing as Starmer names first cabinet

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

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.

 

NHC host MHCLG visit to Greater Manchester

We were delighted to welcome Ruhena Ahmed (Deputy Director, Social Housing Quality and Residents), and colleagues from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) for a visit of members’ sites across Greater Manchester.

MHCLG colleagues had the opportunity to see a range of members’ projects from estate regeneration and terraced street renewal to extra care facilities and housing and support services for young care leavers.

To kick off the day, we visited Irwell Valley Homes’ award-winning Sale West regeneration project. The Sale West estate has had £50m of regeneration work take place and is the largest project of its kind in Greater Manchester for over a decade.

The project includes 263 affordable new homes, over £7m invested to improve existing homes, and funding through the Social Housing Quality Fund to target more than 250 homes with new insulation, ventilation and heating systems.

Phase 1 of the project is now complete and the last homes in Phase 2 are also now being finalised. Irwell Valley are eager to move forward with Phase 3 but funding for the next phase is a challenge. Irwell Valley colleagues explained the importance of complementary funding streams in parallel with their own investment.

Our next visit was to MSV Housing’s Elmswood extra care scheme situated in the Depot regeneration site in Moss Side. The former Stagecoach Depot has been redeveloped to provide much-needed housing options for every stage of life within the community. For MSV, this includes 72 extra care apartments, 40 affordable HAPPI scheme apartments and 30 shared ownership family homes.

We also did a walking tour of the Moss Side to see some of the renewal MSV have done on the traditional terraced streets. This included a quick stop at the site of a former nightclub. Manchester City Council have appointed MSV to build 280 new homes, to regenerate this site and the surrounding area.

MHCLG colleagues saw the brilliant community work MSV does at its Positive Futures facility – a training and education facility with apartments for care experienced young people.

Finally, we visited Johnnie Johnson Housing’s Wellington House, an independent living development for over 55s with 26 flats. MHCLG colleagues heard stories from residents of previously being homeless and the joy of finding a safe place to live. Wellington House is in being renovated and the visit showed the positive impact this will have on the people living there.

Throughout the day it was clear to see the fantastic work our members are doing. It was also great to see the emphasis on engaging with residents, and the role our members play as anchor institutions in their communities.

We are always on the look out for members’ sites to visit as part of our influencing work. Please get in touch if you’d like us to visit one of your sites. We’re keen to engage with the new Government and showcase the brilliant work our members are doing.

Government roundtable discusses affordable housing delivery

Northern Housing Consortium’s Chief Executive, Tracy Harrison, has taken part in a roundtable event with the Deputy Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. Angela Rayner MP and the Minister for Housing, Matthew Pennycook MP, discussing affordable and social housing delivery.

The event was attended by council leaders, sector representatives and housing associations and enabled them to talk directly to the Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister for Housing about the challenges and opportunities in delivering affordable and social homes.

Immediately after the event, Tracy Harrison said:

“This was an incredibly upbeat and optimistic session and included discussion on a wide range of issues affecting the housing sector – including the need for a holistic approach to housing quality and energy efficiency in order to provide green and decent homes.

“During the event, Matthew Pennycook underlined the Government’s commitment to building 1.5 million homes over the next five years and said that the social housing sector will be crucial in helping to deliver on this.

“I outlined the opportunity for 320,000 homes on the North’s brownfield land and the changes needed to current funding to help unlock more land, as well as the need for more control and flexibility for our Mayoral Combined Authorities. 

“It’s been less than a month since the new Government came into power and, from these discussions and from the plans which were laid out in the King’s speech on 17th July, it’s clear that housing is at the top of the agenda.

 “The Northern Housing Consortium will continue to act as a voice for housing in the North, making sure that Government fully understands and addresses the challenges we face and that the North can fulfil its potential as we work together to create the affordable, good quality, green homes we need.”

320,000 new homes on brownfield land to tackle the North’s housing crisis

Our latest research report has found there’s capacity for up to 320,000 new homes on brownfield land in the North.

This will help the Government deliver 1.5m new homes over the next 5 years and play a part in finding homes for the 420,000 Northerners on housing waiting lists.

We’re calling for a £4.2 billion funding package from Government over ten years to prepare the brownfield land in the North for new homes.

The current Brownfield Housing Fund is set to support 24,000 new homes. However, NHC research has found Whitehall red tape is stifling the effectiveness of this fund and some of the North’s brownfield sites are not eligible for funding.

To deliver 320,000 homes over ten years, Government brownfield funding must be:

  • Devolved not delegated: Give combined authorities the control to use funding in line with local priorities.
  • More flexible with funding requirements: Current value-for-money requirements mean sites in areas with lower land values are often not eligible. Areas most in need of regeneration are losing out.
  • Longer-term: With the current fund, land remediation work must be completed by March 2025. This means more complex sites, such as contaminated land, are not eligible for support.
  • Supported by increased capacity in local government and combined authorities, including in planning. The government has said they will increase planning capacity which will help local government and combined authorities plan a strategic pipeline of Brownfield projects. But more needs to be done.

Northern Housing Consortium Chief Executive Tracy Harrison said:

“There is a massive opportunity across the North to unlock land for up to 320,000 homes, helping provide much needed homes, regenerate communities and rebalance the economy away from London and the South East.

“But the current funding rules don’t work. Central government requirements mean some of the most deprived areas in need of regeneration are not being developed to provide much-needed homes. Brownfield Funding should be further devolved to give local government and combined authorities the flexibility to use it where it’s needed most.

“The Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has started to review brownfield funding and the value-for-money appraisal process for housing and land investment. We are keen to work with the Government to deliver changes which will help our members regenerate communities and unleash the benefits of brownfield-first development.”

You can read “Brownfield First – how devolved brownfield funding can build a new generation of homes in the North” here. It includes fifteen recommendations about how the Government can more effectively fund brownfield development.

The NHC conducted and funded this research. It included discussions with Mayoral Combined Authorities in the North of England.

 

Discussing how housing can address inequality with young people  

Our Chief Executive Tracy Harrison, was part of a Q&A panel at the North East Youth Symposium. She listened to the views of young people and shared insight about the social housing sector and its role in creating positive change for the future.

The NE Youth Symposium aims to unite young people with decision-makers and sector leaders across the North East. It’s a forum to discuss issues such as poverty and inequality, community safety, physical and mental health, education and employment.

Tracy, who joined decision-makers, policy makers and funders from the region, participated in the poverty and inequality roundtable, sharing insights on the role of social housing in the North East. She discussed the part it plays in tackling child poverty and why good-quality, affordable, energy-efficient housing is important

The session looked at the work the social housing sector is doing to tackle inequalities for young people and how it is supporting individuals and communities.

Tracy Harrison, Chief Executive of Northern Housing Consortium said:

“It was an absolute pleasure – and very humbling – to attend the North East Youth Symposium and listen to the young people’s views. Many of the issues we heard about in our recent Pride in Place work came through strongly on the day: fragmented and patchy access to public services, absence of good quality green spaces, and a lack of voice and agency in decision-making being consistent themes.

“Making sure there is enough high-quality and affordable housing will remain the single most important thing that we can do as a sector to address poverty and inequality in the North. It’s been great to highlight and discuss those issues with attendees. It’s our job to keep promoting the important role housing plays in shaping young peoples’ futures.  We must make sure that politicians and government recognise that too.”

House of Commons celebration for Northern Housing Consortium at 50

As part of our 50th anniversary celebrations, we held a Parliamentary Reception at the House of Commons.

Lord Best OBE DL hosted this special event and was joined by housing leaders, senior civil servants, parliamentarians, residents and community representatives. The reception reflected on the achievements of the past, current challenges, and explored how together we can create great homes and communities in the future.

Alongside Lord Best OBE DL speakers were NHC Chief Executive Tracy Harrison; MP for Blaydon and Consett Liz Twist; Yorkshire Housing resident and Social Housing Tenants’ Climate Jury juror Terry Tasker; NHC Board member Jane Everton; and Onward Homes CEO & NHC Board member Bronwen Rapley.

Liz Twist MP spoke about the work of the NHC and the all-party party parliamentary group to support housing in the North, and the importance of finding specific solutions for every community.

Key themes discussed included the role the NHC plays in bringing the sector together, and the importance of engaging with residents and putting them at the heart of decisions.

 

Tracy Harrison, Chief Executive, Northern Housing Consortium, said:

“It was fantastic to get together with senior civil servants, NHC board members and parliamentarians at the House of Commons to reflect on what the NHC has achieved over the past 50 years and to discuss the impact of the new Government’s focus on affordable and sustainable housing. Being here right at the start of this new parliament made the day particularly special.”

“It was also encouraging to hear our offer to the new Government ‘Building the Future of Housing in the North’

referenced consistently throughout the day, alongside plans to maximise opportunities for the North.  It was very clear from the speakers that the sector is ready to kickstart change for the future and do things with a long-term outlook. We are excited to start delivering our plans.”

Northern Housing Consortium 2024 Election of Directors

The Northern Housing Consortium represents the views of housing organisations in the North of England, with our membership of local and combined authorities, ALMOs and housing associations representing over 9 out of every 10 social homes in the North.  Our vision is our collaborative Northern voice helps members create and regenerate sustainable homes and build resilient, thriving communities.

The overall management and strategic direction of the Northern Housing Consortium is entrusted to the Board of Directors who are subject to election each year from Full Member organisations.  Membership of the Board is balanced between the three Northern regions and consideration is made of sectoral representation across different organisation types as well as the need for balance across the range of equality categories – age, disability, ethnic origin, gender, sexual orientation. We would strongly encourage applications from all backgrounds to support our inclusion and diversity objectives.

Under the Consortium’s governance arrangements, all nominations for the position of Director will be reviewed by the Board (or their nominated representatives), against a Skills Set for Directors to ensure that they meet the Board’s requirement to fill any vacancies – the Skills Set and Board Director Role Profile are enclosed in the Board Director Nomination Pack.

In accordance with a procedure agreed by the Board, we are seeking nominations for up to four new Directors’ places to be filled for the three-year period 2024-2027.  The Directors who are also retiring this year but who wish to stand for re-election are as follows:

  1. Leann Hearne, Chief Executive, Livv Housing Group
  2. Charlotte Norman, Chief Executive, Mosscare St Vincents Housing Group
  3. Sharon Kemp, Chief Executive, Rotherham MBC (previously co-opted to fill a casual vacancy on 23rd November 2023).

NB The Board have confirmed their support for the re-election of the above candidate.

Should the number of successful nominations exceed the vacancies available, a ballot will be arranged and the results announced for formal approval by the Full Members at the Consortium’s Annual General Meeting on 21st November 2024

A nomination form is included in the Nomination Pack, and I invite you to consider and make nominations of candidates no later than 14th August 2024.  Please note that you can nominate more than one candidate but in doing so, you should note the conditions for nominating candidates included in the Nomination Pack.

An application form can be obtained from anastasia.armstrong@northern-consortium.org.uk This must be completed by the nominee and returned with the nomination form no later than 14th August 2024.

If you would like to discuss your nomination for the position of Director, please contact:-

 

Tracy Harrison

Chief Executive

T: 07809659492

E: tracy.harrison@northern-consortium.org.uk