More than a step in the right direction

This is undoubtedly a positive budget for all of us working in housing, more than just a step in the right direction, a budget that proves when Government said they would work in partnership with our sector, they meant it.

Clearly, the top line news for us is the commitment to provide £500m of new funding to deliver 5,000 new affordable, social homes. It isn’t everything that is needed, but it is a positive indication of what we can hopefully expect over the lifetime of the parliament.

There is no doubt that as the country’s largest housing association, we should be able to do more to help local councils build the homes they want to see in their communities. In February of this year, I joined with my G15 colleagues to sound the alarm about the lack of starts on new homes in the capital. Whilst the number of new homes being built has been declining rapidly in the city, the number of households in temporary accommodation has been growing exponentially and this week a shocking report from London Councils has unmasked the true scale of the crisis. One in 20 of London’s children are living in temporary housing and London’s boroughs are now spending more than £4m every day on temporary accommodation.

That is why we welcome the announcement of the Affordable Homes Programme, as the harsh reality is that every pound we are spending on a temporary home and not a permanent one, does nothing for the life chances of families.

Secondly, the Government’s welcome commitment to a five-year rent settlement. Stability and certainty are essential in leading an organisation of our scale. Business leaders, chief executives and the public have craved calmer waters. Our latest annual report demonstrates that in the last year we have invested more than five times our entire annual surplus on a programme of planned improvements to our existing housing, as well as the development of new social homes. Whilst these aren’t always the headlines, it is what we are so proud of.

Our brilliant people provide over 1,000 repairs a day at a cost of £1m a day making our residents homes better, many more provide planned investment and regeneration and new homes of all tenures. The Government’s commitments will help us to do more of this work. The rent settlement has not covered the full cost of maintaining and investing in social housing for many years. We’ve had to try and bridge the gap. However, we shouldn’t be spending time bridging gaps, we should be spending all our time delivering the best possible services to our residents and the welcome news in this budget means that we know what we will have to spend over the next five years to help us do that.

Finally, I am really pleased to see this Government ‘s commitment to investing in projects to get people back to work and pay people a decent wage. The increase in the national living wage, alongside money to fund initiatives to tackle unemployment, will be welcome news for thousands of our residents. Currently, 12% of Clarion residents are unemployed, more than three times the national average. Since 2017, we have helped thousands of our residents into work and last year alone we supported more than 1,700 residents into work, including 135 apprenticeships. Housing associations can be at the forefront of the drive to tackle the epidemic of economic inactivity, and I welcome the steps taken by the Chancellor to address this.

So, much to be optimistic about, including the £1.3bn of additional investment in local services. The spending review next spring will be even more significant. It is clear that many public services are broken and the finances of many local councils remain extremely precarious to say the least, with the LGA estimating there is a funding gap of £6.2bn over the next two years. The challenges our residents and our colleagues face are significant, and these pressures will need to be managed alongside that ambitious and bold commitment to deliver the 1.5m new homes the Government have promised by the end of this parliament, and we are poised to play our part in achieving that.