Housebuilding In the North: Achieving Government Goals

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Alan Boddy, Chief Executive of County Durham Housing Provider Livin, spoke at a joint Northern Housing Consortium and Campbell Tickell session looking at how organisations in the North can be major contributors to the government’s new homes goals.

Alan is currently Chair of the North East Housing Partnerships (NEHP) Regeneration, Development and Placemaking workstream, and Chair of Spennymoor Town Board. He is pushing forward the region’s housing ambitions through partnership working. He has been intrinsic in drawing together a regional schedule of further and faster sites for new homes.

Alan shared this work at the event. Below is Alan’s summary of his presentation:

 

How housing associations can contribute to housing targets

As a collective the NEHP owns more than 214,000 homes across the North East playing a crucial role in meeting housing need. Housing Associations operate in the right space and take a place-based community-led approach to providing additional homes, using existing supply chains to maximise the number of homes delivered for both rent and affordable home ownership.

Rooted in communities housing associations have a deep understanding of housing need and are delivering targeted solutions. They are looking at ways and means of regenerating existing low demand, poor quality homes, adding social value, as well as providing additional new homes.

Partnership working with local authorities and other stakeholders to build homes – including accessing different funding opportunities

In the North East the NEHP is working together to make the most of existing relationships. They are working together and not against each other.

A longer-term Affordable Home Programme (AHP) and an improved medium to long term rent settlement would provide greater certainty of funding. Joint ventures and partnerships, such as the NEHP, create greater potential for sharing risk and increasing development capacity.

NEHP registered providers are currently gearing up to work together to take advantage of recently announced government funding including the £500m AHP top-up, the Warmer Homes Social Housing Fund and additional funding to remediate brownfield land.

 

Housing association housebuilding strategies

Housing association’s strategies must strike the right balance between investing in existing stock and building new homes; focusing on affordability; and building energy efficient homes to reduce running costs and align with net zero goals.

Regeneration funding is needed to revitalise communities in the North. Regeneration funding without the prerequisite of additionality is essential for some communities.

He called on the government to urgently address the Right to Buy which is ‘crippling’ stock numbers. He also highlighted the need for longer-term investment in greener homes to avoid leaving a problem for the next generation to solve.

This is a blog is our Housebuilding in the North series. We plan on publishing more from the speakers of the sessions soon. You can watch the event on our website here.

Great culture and making an impact

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Member engagement manager Satty Rai has been with us for over 17 years. She feels the NHC is the best it’s ever been. She is excited about her current role, supporting housing partnerships, which puts her at the heart of devolution.

What has been a highlight from your time at the NHC?

I have had many highlights throughout my time at the NHC, but if I had to select one that stood out, it would be the projects I am currently working on. I’m supporting Northern Housing Partnerships and providing the secretariat function. This has strengthened my own connections and knowledge of devolution; it is a very exciting time for me, NHC and our members.

How would you describe the culture at the NHC?

Positive, engaging, flexible and respectful.

What have you learnt while working at the NHC?

I have developed my skills in community engagement, including a deep sense of empathy and compassion. I like being able to work in a very agile way, it’s great to be able to respond to a changing landscape very quickly.

I’ve gained extensive knowledge of housing and regulation, project management and have thrived in a collaborative team environment which supports personal growth. Most important of all has been seeing and hearing how the work of the NHC and our members change communities for the better across the North.

What has changed at the NHC over the time you’ve worked here?

So much, including lots of new faces at all levels. The NHC has come a long way and is at its strongest position yet. We’re really bringing to the forefront the voice of housing across the north, raising awareness across government departments and influencing policy change. I’m pleased this work is making a real different to NHC members and northern communities.

What do you like to do outside of work?

I enjoy spending times with family and friends, trying to keep fit and I love a good audio book or podcast.

From holiday cover to a career she loves

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Nicola joined our procurement arm, Consortium Procurement, in 2012, initially providing holiday cover. Now fast forward over 12 years and she’s still here, pleased to be part of the procurement family working as a Contracts Officer.

How would you describe the culture at the NHC?

Our strengths are targeted and supported by those in leadership roles who also make sure our work life balance is a priority. The work is meaningful and accommodating to our own individual styles.

What has changed at the NHC over the time you’ve worked here?

‘We can and we will’ – it’s impossible to mention just one as we continue to move forward and adapt to all that comes our way with such a way of thinking. The one change which impacted my own life the most was the agile working and its ability to allow me to adapt my work around helping my elderly parents.

What do you like to do outside of work?

I love to cook, watch movies and binge watch series regularly – a little too much! Horror movies are my favourite with the old classics still being at the top of my list. My 20-year-old daughter likes them too but has me watch them with her during daylight hours on the weekend so they aren’t so scary – where’s the fun in that?

NHC calls for further reform to Right to Buy to limit loss of social housing 

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The NHC responded to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government’s consultation on the proposed reforms to the Right to Buy. We called for changes to limit the loss of social housing, including more control to be given to local authorities. 

While the Right to Buy scheme has benefited some tenants, it has also led to a significant loss of social housing.  

Far more social homes are lost each year through Right to Buy, than are built, and these losses are accumulating. 32,559 homes in the North that have been sold through Right to Buy since 2012/13 and there have been only 4,737 starts and acquisitions in the same period. This is a replacement rate of 1 in every 7. 

With an ongoing depletion of social housing, it is crucial to take stronger measures now to prevent further losses and ensure that essential homes are preserved for those who need them most.  

Unfortunately, this loss of social housing has not always led to home ownership. Nationally over 40 per cent of Right to Buy homes have gone into the private rented sector, often at unaffordable rent levels. 

To effectively tackle the housing crisis and help the Government reach its goal of “delivering the biggest boost to social and affordable housing in a generation”, our response to the Right to Buy consultation asks for a major overhaul to prevent further loss of social rented homes. 

Our key points are: 

  • A longer qualification period is required  before tenants qualify for Right to Buy. 
  • New build housing should be permanently exempt from Right to Buy, to protect the new homes which are desperately needed. 
  • We’d like to see more control given to local authorities. They should be able to set discounts at a level which will allow them to replace homes or use alternative means to retain social housing, such as portable discounts. In areas facing the most acute housing shortages for certain types of homes, local leaders should be able to suspend the programme. 

The NHC welcomed the changes already made to the Right to Buy policy, including the flexibilities introduced in July 2024 and the measures effective following the Autumn Budget. It’s clear that a more radical change is needed to reverse the loss of social housing and provide a fairer system to help more people achieve their ambitions of home ownership. 

Our detailed response can be read here. 

New NHC research to support regeneration  

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Thank you to all the members who took part in our research looking into the proportion of social housing which is reaching the end of its serviceable life. Through this work we hope to improve the sector and the Government’s understanding of the need for funding for housing-led regeneration over the next 5 to 10 years.  

The information submitted by members has been collated and anonymised and sent to officials in the Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government, ahead of the government spending review. It will inform the NHC’s spending review submission, as well as a policy paper on housing-led regeneration and the need for future funding streams.  

We’re incredibly grateful to those who participated in this work and provided valuable information which will help inform future policy around housing and regeneration. This is an area of work that we will continue to develop in the coming months. 

Any members who wish to participate further or to discuss issues such as the North’s ageing housing stock, emerging regulatory requirements and the need for regeneration funding, please contact Tom.kennedy@northern-consortium.org.uk 

NHC responds to rent policy consultation

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We recently responded to the Government’s consultation on future rent policy. The Government initially proposed a new rent policy of ‘CPI+1%’ for five years from April 2026. They sought views on extending the rent settlement and wider potential changes to social housing rent policy, through the consultation.

As part of our response, the NHC, Chartered Institute for Housing, National Housing Federation, Local Government Association, Association of Retained Council Housing, the National Federation of ALMOs and the Councils with ALMOs Group, commissioned analysis by Savills Affordable Housing demonstrating the impacts of different rent policy proposals.

This analysis, as well as a joint letter, has been shared with the Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, as well as officials in the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.

A summary of our response is below:

  • We argued that the proposed rent policy of CPI +1% for five years would go some way to improve the finances of the housing sector and maintain current levels of delivery, although this has been undermined by the increase in employer national insurance contributions. If the government wants the housing sector to go further on delivering new homes, improving housing quality and energy efficiency, then this settlement will be insufficient.
  • Instead, the NHC believes that the government should extend the proposed rent settlement of CPI+1% for 5 years to 10 years. This will increase the capacity for investment in new and existing homes by reducing the cost of debt faced by affordable housing providers, allow them to plan investment and development programmes with greater confidence, and provide the affordable housing providers in the North with an additional £18.68 billion of income to invest in homes over their 30-year business plan period.
  • Furthermore, we believe that there is a strong case for government to reintroduce rent convergence at either £2 or £3 per week, as part of the next rent settlement. This would provide additional income for providers, especially local authorities, to invest in homes and ensure that affordable homes are let at the correct rent levels. This will also put the housing sector’s finances on a more sustainable footing in the longer term, significantly improving the position of Housing Revenue Accounts and housing association interest cover.
  • It is also important to highlight that if these changes were implemented, social housing rents in the North would remain affordable for tenants, while the housing sector would be in a significantly stronger position to meet the multiple challenges it faces, and to support the government’s ambition to build 1.5 million new homes across this parliament. Social rents in the North would still be significantly lower than their equivalents in the private rental sector, especially in major cities and areas with acute affordability issues.

Our full response can be accessed here.

Please contact tom.kennedy@northern-consortium.org.uk if you have any questions.

 

 

New research from the Fabian Society about housing quality

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The Fabian Society has launched Home Comforts: a plan to eradicate poor quality rented accommodation. The research showed that half a million children live in ‘non-decent’ private rented homes in England and there is a north-south divide. In the North 27 per cent of private rented homes are ‘non-decent’ compared to 17 per cent in the South.

The Northern Housing Consortium has supported this independent research, because the quality of existing homes is a critical issue for the North and is something we have long campaigned on.

The North has more than its share of older, colder homes and, as this research shows, the private rented sector is in a particularly poor state. Our recent  Northern Housing Monitor report showed this is increasingly where people and families on lower incomes are living because of the chronic shortage of social housing.

Executive Director of Policy and Policy and Public Affairs Patrick Murray said: “We were happy to support the Fabian Society in their project as there is a need for new ideas about how longstanding quality issues can be tackled. It will offer the opportunity to engage with politicians and make sure that quality and regeneration are at the top of the Government’s agenda, alongside building new homes.

“The report discusses a range of approaches for improving the quality of rented homes. We support the recommendation for housing replacement and regeneration funding. This is essential to create homes that are fit for the future and support thriving communities across the North.

“It echoes our calls for a refreshed decent homes standard to be applied to all rented homes and for councils to more tightly regulate the private rented sector, with new powers and funding to support this. It also found that the certainty of a ten-year rent settlement, something the NHC and other sector bodies are campaigning on, would help social housing providers plan investment in their homes.”

You can read the full report here.

Northern Housing Consortium welcomes English Devolution White Paper

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The English Devolution White Paper published this week, is big news for the North.

Chief Executive of the Northern Housing Consortium Tracy Harrison said:

“Since the Commission for Housing in North in 2016, we’ve been calling for more local control to drive growth and opportunity in the North, and to make sure the diverse needs of communities across the North are met.

“Deeper devolution – including planning, skills and transport – to Mayoral Combined Authorities (MCAs), is very welcome. MCAs are well set up to convene and work with partners, including local authorities and housing partnerships, so it will help our members be part of joined-up, place-based approaches.

“The paper proposes giving MCAs more power and control over housing, regeneration and retrofit funding – something we’ve argued for strongly in our recent papers on brownfield redevelopment and warm homes. We found that centralised funding models were a barrier to MCAs delivering the change needed in their local communities.

“It also talks about local regeneration and a new version of the Long-Term Plan for Towns drawing on the New Deal for Communities. We look forward to working with NHC members to help shape and deliver this.”

We will share a more detailed briefing about the White Paper in the New Year, but our initial reflections are that it offers lots of opportunities for members to make a bigger difference to the communities they serve.

You can read the English Devolution White Paper here.

NHC members host senior civil servant in West Yorkshire

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 NHC members host senior civil servant in West Yorkshire

We had a fantastic day visiting some great examples of brownfield development and regeneration in West Yorkshire with Emma Fraser (Director, Housing Markets & Strategy) from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.

Emma is the senior official responsible for MHCLG’s approach to housing in the Spending Review and the Long-Term Plan for Housing that will be published alongside it.

Emma is also the Department’s sponsor for Homes England and sits on their Board. The visit was part of NHC’s programme of taking senior civil servants out to see the issues on the ground ahead of important Government decisions on spending next year. 

 

First stop: Yorkshire Housing’s Moorfield Road Site

The first stop was a Yorkshire Housing development of 50 affordable and sustainable homes on the site of a former factor in Armley.

The site was derelict and had been vacant for almost 20 years prior to its sale to Yorkshire Housing. They are developing it for a 100% affordable and energy efficient housing scheme.

 

Next up: Holbeck Urban Village and the South Bank

These three sites sit closely around Leeds City Centre and are a great example of the old sitting alongside the new. These sites have created a new sustainable community, which was built using the latest green technology on brownfield land.

Holbeck is in the South Bank of Leeds City Centre, an area which is undergoing significant change and housing growth and a key part of the Leeds Transformational Regeneration Partnership.

The Climate Innovation District in Leeds is developer Citu’s flagship development, exemplifying their vision for sustainable communities.

When complete, the Climate Innovation District will consist of 955 houses and apartments, workplaces, leisure, retail, and a net-zero, multi-generational building.

These houses are the first to be built in Leeds City Centre for over 100 years.

Time for Lunch with Nick Atkin and the West Yorkshire Housing Partnership

Over lunch we heard from West Yorkshire Housing Partnership vice chair and Yorkshire Housing CEO Nick Atkin about the work of the West Yorkshire Housing Partnership.

Nick Atkin said:

“It’s been a pleasure to welcome Emma Fraser from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to see first-hand how we’re delivering the affordable homes people need, and to also understand some of the barriers we face in doing even more.”

“With around 85,000 households on housing waiting lists across West Yorkshire, the desperate need for more homes like these is clear.”

“Housing associations across the West Yorkshire Housing Partnership are making a real impact in tackling the housing crisis, but we can only continue to do so with a significant increase in long-term funding.”

“Reclassifying housing investment as infrastructure spend would provide the long-term certainty of funding, we need to help deliver the government’s ambition to build 1.5 million homes.”

“We’ll also continue to make the case for a 10-year rent settlement to give housing associations confidence to bring forward larger schemes and deliver more high quality, affordable homes for people across West Yorkshire.”

 

Onwards to: WDH’s Saxton House

At WDH’s Saxton House in Leeds, we saw how they are building 207 affordable 1,2,3 and 4 bedroom apartments on the site of an old garage. This development, which was originally earmarked by the developer for private rent, will offer a diverse range of residents a home on the edge of Leeds City Centre.

 

Last but not least: Leeds Federated, Sugar Hill Close

Leeds Federated have replaced 1940s prefabricated Airey homes which were owned by a private landlord. We had the pleasure of meeting two longstanding residents who had just moved into their brand-new home from one of the prefabs.

It was a great day! Thank you to all those involved. We love showcasing the work of our members to government officials and hope it will help our members to work with government to transform communities across the North. Thanks to supporter member Ward Hadaway for hosting us.