Chairing the meeting, hosted by the Guardian and housing association
Moat, Guardian Public Services Editor David Brindle noted how prominent housing issues have been across the party conferences.
This demonstrates how much focus is being given to the dangers of a housing crisis, he suggested, and asked whether the Conservatives need to produce some “eye catching initiatives” to prevent the industry falling off the ‘housing cliff’ it is approaching.
Elizabeth Austerberry, Chief Executive of housing association
Moat, pointed to the recent report that Moat had produced on the issue.
She said that the silver lining of the welfare reforms is that it has meant housing associations have had to get to know their tenants better and deal with them more directly.
Housing associations “genuinely want to build more housing” she insisted, but policy factors were making this difficult. This is an issue, because “supply needs to be increased now”.
Much lower levels of capital subsidy meant housing associations are having to make rents work harder, she explained. The question, however, is whether these rents are really affordable.
More support is also needed for things like shared ownership, Austerberry continued, and the regulatory environment is extremely difficult to negotiate. It does not currently facilitate innovation.
Moat does support welfare reform, she stressed, but the overall problem with the reforms is that they are confusing to everyone, even those trying to operate them.
“We need joined up thinking in government” she said, to drive forward the housing agenda in a consistent manner. “We don’t need initiative overload” she insisted.
We are sleepwalking into a policy position that effectively constrains affordable housing supply, she said.
Alex Morton, Head of Housing, Planning and Urban Policy at Policy Exchange, did not think there is a stigma attached to social housing, but instead believed people simply preferred to own their own homes if they can.
“Ultimately, to fix social housing, we have to fix the broader picture of the housing crisis in this country” he said, and he believed the answer to this was to cut back on unhelpful and ineffective regulations.
“There is a whole myriad of regulations that prevent you from building what you want” he argued.
He called for “a complete recall of planning”. What communities do not need are regulations handed down from a planning inspectorate in Whitehall.
“You can’t look at this sector in isolation” argued Robert Buckland MP, who said more attention needs to be paid to specifically what housing demand exists, and why this demand exists.
He described how his own constituency of Swindon South is finding itself “held hostage” by the five year land supply demand.
Additionally, newly developed housing in Swindon had been turned into housing for those working around the area: “We are a dormitory for large parts of the M4 and the Thames Valley.”
“It’s not enough to talk about waiting lists” Buckland said, believing many people are on waiting lists as an insurance in case they cannot get the housing they want from the private sector. This means that whilst waiting lists can be “alarming”, they might not be an entirely accurate reflection of who actually needs housing.
Buckland believed the benefit cap is “here to stay”, which he said will at least give housing associations an element of certainty.
“It is time for us to move the debate on from these macro questions about macro supply, to micro questions about what is happening in each area” he argued.
“If we are to have a truly localist agenda that encourages home building… it is no good building houses that end up being used as a dormitory by people bringing nothing to the local economy.”
Austerberry said housing associations are getting better at configuring housing to meet demand. She said cost is the major issue preventing construction, but Morton disagreed, arguing that the reason homes are not being built is because the land cannot be obtained through the planning system.
The structure of the incentives in the planning system is “fundamentally antagonistic” he argued.
Buckland argued that the right to buy is still important and aspirational. He believed there is potential for it to grow.
Question and answer session
Katherine Sacks-Jones, Policy Manager at Crisis, asked what could be done to make the private rented sector something more than a last resort.
Buckland was reluctant to say that all landlords should have to join accrediting associations, but did believe they could be encouraged to do so.
Housing associations will play an increasing part in the private rented sector, Austerberry believed, and called for leadership from the government on helping people utilise shared ownership opportunities.
Another question came from the audience, who said the one thing stopping developments is “regulation after regulation” imbedded in local and national planning rules. “The market is fundamentally broken” he said.
The existence of design codes is important for new homes, said Buckland, but agreed regulation could be pulled back.
Morton argued that building regulations should be there “to ensure the housing stays up”. Anything beyond this should be decided by local communities.
An audience member who said he was a scrutiny board member for a large housing association worried about tenants who are “frightened” about the removal of direct payment of welfare benefits.
Buckland agreed that the wholesale move away from direct payments “was a mistake”. He believed direct payments should be allowed in certain circumstances, such as in the rehousing of former offenders.
Councillor Paul Canal, from the London Borough of Redbridge, said it was a mistake to focus the debate on renting or buying. Instead, it should be about the how housing that people want to live in or live next to can be provided.
Responding, Morton said people have come to see planning regulations as protections, when in fact they have been ineffective.
An audience member from Homeless Link warned against the debate veering too far from the question of affordability, as this is the key factor.