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The housing crisis calls for deeds, not words
We need a radical approach for a new era of social housing, writes Charlie Norman, chair of Greater Manchester Housing Providers
Last week, I walked past the brilliant statue of Emmeline Pankhurst in Manchester city centre – someone had placed a bouquet of flowers in her hand on polling day, which was a lovely touch. Frustrated by a lack of action in 1903, Ms Pankhurst and the Women’s Social and Political Union created the motto of ‘deeds not words’ – which rings just as true today.
Analysis by the National Housing Federation (NHF) tells us that 4.2 million people are now in need of social housing in England. Policy decisions since 2010 have led to a chronic undersupply of the most basic and fundamental human need, following decades of underinvestment.
For every new social home built in England, six households were accepted as homeless by their local council. Social and affordable housebuilding continues to tumble and too many people are living in precarious, unsafe and overcrowded homes. It is beyond tragic that there are 145,000 children living in temporary accommodation, impacting their ability to get on in life.
The human cost of so many people not being able to secure a decent, safe and warm home is shocking. There simply aren’t enough homes and we face a huge challenge with too many old and cold homes that require significant investment.
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This also weighs heavy on our public finances, which affects us all. Council spend on temporary accommodation has increased by 65% in the past five years alone. And BRE – the Building Research Establishment – estimates that unsuitable homes cost the NHS at least £1.4bn a year. According to the Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS), the housing benefit bill has doubled since the early 2000s.
A broken social care system, grinding poverty, low wages, lower life expectancy and increasing challenges with health are all exacerbated by a lack of social housing. The NHF has quite rightly argued for a long-term plan – one that is cross-party and transcends parliamentary cycles. Every one of us needs a home that is right for our time of life and any one of us could become homeless because of life events – a safety net should be in place if this does happen.
“Every one of us needs a home that is right for our time of life and any one of us could become homeless because of life events – a safety net should be in place if this does happen”
All of this requires action, something that Greater Manchester Housing Providers (GMHP) has been working on together, as a coalition of the willing, for the past 12 years. We came together initially to respond to a poverty commission report and since then we have collaborated in many ways to play our part in helping people to start well, live well and age well in this city region.
Through devolution, we have worked closely with mayor Andy Burnham, the 10 districts, Greater Manchester Combined Authority, the NHS in Greater Manchester, and a wide range of partners to build more desperately needed homes (2,049 last year), tackle rough sleeping, improve standards, support people into work and to drive greater equality in the region. But we still need, and want, to do more.
On Friday morning, a new Labour government was formed, with the UK’s first female chancellor (Ms Pankhurst would be pleased!), four MPs from our city region sitting in the new cabinet, and a wide range of MPs voted in across Greater Manchester – huge congratulations to them all.
On his first day, new prime minister Sir Keir Starmer included the need for more affordable homes as a pressing priority in his in tray. We look forward to working with the new government with hopefully even closer ties to Greater Manchester Combined Authority, wider and more local control, and flexibility through deeper and wider devolution – fixing the fundamentals and investing in all communities.
The scale of the economic and social challenge ahead is formidable, but there are early signs that we can be cautiously optimistic. Housing secretary Angela Rayner is someone who has lived experience of social housing, care work and local government. We are lucky that Jim McMahon and Matthew Pennycook have been confirmed as ministers at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and have shown a long-term commitment. It feels like this is the time to get serious about housing.
“On his first day, new prime minister Sir Keir Starmer included the need for more affordable homes as a pressing priority in his in tray”
The new government has committed to building 1.5 million new homes in the next five years and announced long-overdue planning reforms to enable this. Calling for a new commitment to the Northern Powerhouse, the mayor in Greater Manchester has stated his intent that he will use flexibilities within the devolution deal to play our part in building these new homes.
GMHP is working with Mr Burnham’s team and our partners to set out a roadmap for a Housing First City Region, underpinned by three pillars: supply, standards and support. Our new ambition is to solve the housing crisis in our region by 2038.
This will require a radical new approach and breaking down barriers around land supply, brand new commissioning models, and appropriate grant funding for new and existing homes. This must be coupled with long-term certainty on rents, much-needed planning reforms, investment in proper regeneration and confirmation of the future of the Affordable Homes Programme.
There may not be lots of money available, as new chancellor Rachel Reeves has said, but this is about choice. Investing in our existing social housing and building new social homes on a scale last seen in the post-war era will improve health and life expectancy, save people money and be a huge contributor to the pro-growth ambitions of this new government
In turn, this will create jobs, improve the economy and increase skills, hope and ambition for the future. NHF and Shelter research shows that building 90,000 social rent homes could inject £51.2bn into the economy, creating approximately 140,000 jobs. We also need to provide more supported and age-friendly homes to help people live independently – at least 167,000 by 2040.
For decades, there has been a lack of action – now is the time for a long-term era of national renewal in social housing underpinned by deeds, not just words.
Charlie Norman, chief executive, MSV Housing; and chair, Greater Manchester Housing Providers
