Bang the drum

Housing associations are caught in a perfect storm and their very existence is under threat. Unless the sector wakes up to this reality, it could sleepwalk into oblivion.
 
With all eyes on Prime Minister’s Questions this week, Jeremy Corbyn chose housing as his first agenda item to fire across David Cameron’s bows. The prime minister’s response was damning about the role housing associations are playing: “Frankly… they haven’t improved their performance and I think it’s about time they did,” he warned.

With the government heading towards homeownership and away from social housing, and the Labour Party calling for local authorities to build the new homes, it’s clear we are under attack, and we have few allies to defend our role.

The problem is, no one really understands what we deliver and we haven’t told our story yet.

Into that vacuum, the government is busy creating the narrative. The sector is bloated, four in five housing associations don’t even build new homes, the public and private sectors have swallowed huge efficiency savings while registered providers have sat back, slowed down, and given themselves a pay rise.

So what is the right response?

Many housing associations feel their options are limited as they struggle to cope with challenging policy reforms, from rent reductions to Right to Buy and welfare reform to ‘Pay to Stay’. There is so much to be done, re-balancing the books and looking after our residents.

And the National Housing Federation must, of course, focus on the housing legislation and getting the best outcome possible on Right to Buy.  And they do a very good job.

But this will not save the sector.  What we need to do is tell our story.

Housing associations are economic engines of growth. We build houses, lots of them, and enable millions of people to have a home.

We create thousands of jobs, drive up apprenticeships and add huge value to UK PLC. Without us, 40,000 less homes would be built each year. 

“Every housing association should be part of a concerted, multi-faceted campaign addressing these misconceptions head on.”

Without us, millions more people would be homeless and forced to take their chances in an unstable, low quality and expensive private rental sector. 

Without us, the government’s borrowing would be a lot higher and for every £1 they give us, we invest £6 of our own money.

We own and manage assets worth billions, but we don’t pocket the profit because we invest it all back into building and maintaining homes.

And we do more. We help residents manage their finances and train for employment, we make our neighbourhoods greener and more pleasant, we tackle anti-social behaviour, we help build communities. 

Of course we can do better and there are efficiencies to be made. But the housing crisis would get 10 times worse if we did not build more homes.

We have a good story to tell. Now we need to invest time and resources in order to tell it. Every housing association should be part of a concerted, multi-faceted campaign addressing these misconceptions head on.  

We need to identify the people of influence who can change the debate. This needs to include the rising stars in local and national politics as well as existing leaders. We must deliver a media strategy that tells the great story of the sector: the houses we’re building, the opportunities we’re providing, the value for money we’re delivering, jobs we’re creating – our positive role to society.

Our reputation is at risk, and we need to approach this with the same seriousness and diligence as we approach our financial and asset management.  

While housing may be top of Jeremy Corbyn’s list, I doubt he sees housing associations as the answer, and for his part, the chancellor’s response was an open challenge: “I think we have to ask ourselves, is the housing association sector doing what it was originally designed to do?”

Now’s the time to respond to this question. Because if we don’t tell our own story, others will.

Sarah Jones, former head of campaigns at Shelter, board member of a London housing association and consultant at Quiller