Spring Statement glow could soon fade

Posted: March 27, 2025 | Author: | Filed under: Affordable housing, Housebuilding, Welfare reform | Tags: | Leave a comment

Originally written as a column for Inside Housing.

Just for a change, housing looks like one of the winners from the Spring Statement – but is everything quite what it seems?

On housebuilding overall, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) gave Rachel Reeves a big boost as it delivered a positive verdict on the planning reforms introduced by the government in the Autumn. 

The chancellor boasted in her speech that measures such as the new National Planning Policy Framework, the release of ‘grey belt’ land and the restoration of mandatory housing targets would permanently boost GDP by 0.2 per cent by 2029/30 and 0.4 per cent within ten years. 

She said: ‘That is the biggest positive growth impact that the OBR have ever reflected in their forecast, for a policy with no fiscal cost.’

Just as good for the chancellor was the watchdog’s forecast on housing numbers: ‘The OBR have concluded that our reforms will lead to housebuilding reaching a 40-year high of 305,000 a year by the end of the forecast period,’ she said. ‘And changes to the National Planning Policy Framework alone will help build over 1.3 million homes in the UK over the next five years, taking us within touching distance of delivering our manifesto promise to build 1.5 million homes in England in this parliament.’ 

The chancellor phrased that carefully but the Treasury press release was more gung-ho as it boasted that this would be ‘bringing the UK one step closer to its Plan for Change mission to build 1.5 million homes’.

That really would be good news, since almost nobody believes the target can be met, but read that paragraph again and you may spot a problem with it.

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What does ‘the biggest boost in a generation’ really mean?

Posted: March 19, 2025 | Author: | Filed under: Affordable housing, Social housing | Leave a comment

Originally written as a column for Inside Housing.

What’s not to like about the prospect of ‘the biggest boost to social and affordable housing in a generation’?

The promise often repeated by Angela Rayner is the best evidence yet that the Labour government’s ambitions for housing are about more than just its headline pledge of 1.5 million new homes in this parliament.

‘The biggest boost’ certainly sounds impressive, generational even, but (unless I’ve missed it) I have not seen an explanation of what it actually means. The answer – inevitably – is that it depends.

Does the deputy prime minister mean the biggest boost in investment or the biggest boost in the number of social and affordable homes? They are not quite the same thing – and there are other questions that flow from that.

In a similar vein, how does this relate to Labour’s broader target of 1.5 million additional homes over this parliament? 

The government has sometimes given the impression that if the target be met (a very big if) then a big increase in affordable housing will inevitably flow from that via Section 106.

But all the evidence suggests that this is the wrong way around and that it can only hope to come close to 1.5 million homes if a significant proportion of them are affordable. 

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A nod’s as good as a wink in response to committee’s critique

Posted: March 10, 2025 | Author: | Filed under: Council housing, Housing associations, Housing finance, Social housing | Leave a comment

Originally written as a column for Inside Housing.

An intriguing Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHLCG) response to a select committee report on Friday might just provide a glimpse into the government’s thinking ahead of the vital spending review due in June. 

Back in May 2024 the then Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee sounded the alarm about the finances and sustainability of the social housing sector and called for a whole series of sector-friendly changes. 

The response comes 10 months later (long after what is meant to be a 60-day deadline) but the world has changed in the meantime, with a Labour government elected and a renamed department and committee. 

So in one sense it is a free hit for MHCLG to echo most of the committee’s warnings and pin the blame for what’s gone wrong on the Conservative administration.  

It does not just agree that ‘the social housing sector faces increased financial pressures, exacerbated by years of under-funding and real terms rent cuts’, it also puts some numbers to the flashing blue lights.

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A big moment for commonhold

Posted: March 6, 2025 | Author: | Filed under: Commonhold, Leasehold | Leave a comment

Originally written as a column for Inside Housing.

England and Wales have a long history of trying and failing to introduce commonhold and an even longer one of trying and failing to reform leasehold. 

So this week’s white paper is a big moment, coming 60 years after Labour first pledged commonhold and 23 years after it botched its implementation.

After decades of frustration and failed attempts at reform, leaseholders will have to be patient for a little bit longer and take the housing minister at his word that this is ‘the beginning of the end for leasehold’. 

While some have criticised Labour for going too slowly, the white paper highlights the flaws in previous legislation and the importance of getting things right. 

So there will be both a draft Bill setting out how the existing commonhold framework will be amended and a further consultation on banning leasehold for new-build flats before all the pieces can be put into place.

Commonhold was first introduced in England and Wales in 2002 to bring them into line with what has been the default for at least 50 years in much of the rest of the developed world. 

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