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The six Rs: a blueprint for tackling the housing crisis
With the government’s housing strategy set to be published in the spring, Nick Atkin, chief executive of Yorkshire Housing, looks at what is really needed to deliver the “biggest boost to affordable housing for a generation”
Nick Atkin is chief executive of Yorkshire Housing
The UK’s housing crisis is one of the most pressing issues facing the country today. With soaring house prices, a dwindling social housing stock and increasing homelessness, millions of households are unable to secure stable, affordable housing.
The housing crisis is not solely down to a lack of supply. This has been compounded by an over-reliance on short-term fixes and piecemeal policies that have left the social housing sector fragmented and unable to meet the needs of local communities.
It’s time for a bold, long-term vision: what I call the six Rs. These six priorities offer a practical framework to address the housing crisis and set a clear direction for the future. So, what are they?
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1. Route map
A housing route map is long overdue. The short-term, disjointed approach to decision-making that we’ve become accustomed to has to end. It’s created an environment that has stifled investment, slowed down planning, drained skills and ultimately led to a housing crisis that has left 1.3 million people across the country on housing waiting lists.
In the spring, the government will publish its long-term housing strategy, providing much-needed clarity on its direction of travel.
Fundamentally the strategy needs to outline its plans for at least the next 10 years. It must provide a clear vision, create certainty in both policy and regulation, and include clear outcomes against which progress can be measured. All this needs to be underpinned by the mechanisms to support delivery, to maximise the opportunity to tackle the housing crisis.
A housing route map ensures we don’t just react to crises but instead create a proactive and sustainable approach to housing for the next decade – and beyond.
2. Rents
A decade of rent certainty is essential for housing providers to plan and invest effectively. Imagine trying to manage your household budget without knowing your income next month – it’s impossible. The same applies to housing associations, except we’re trying to plan not just for one household but for hundreds of thousands of homes.
The government needs to commit to a clear, stable framework for rents – and stick to it. This includes reintroducing rent convergence so that landlords can bring rents back in-line with the rent setting formula.
Failure to do so will harm the sectors financial capacity and ability to invest.
To put this into context, if rent convergence was reinstated, Yorkshire Housing would raise an extra £3m in additional revenue which would be invested in improving our homes.
Certainty on rents would unlock the funding required to maintain and improve existing homes, while continuing to build new ones.
Without this stability, we’re unable to secure the long-term investment needed to tackle the housing crisis head on.
3. Reclassification
Reclassifying housing as infrastructure isn’t a new idea. In fact it’s something I’ve written about before, but we’re approaching it in a fresh and practical way. By combining the best elements of the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project framework with Homes England’s proven oversight, we can create a smarter system that works for everyone.
The reclassification of investment in housing as infrastructure spend would remove the unpredictability caused by shifting political priorities. It would provide the long-term funding certainty that the housing sector and its investors need to deliver more homes and tackle urgent issues like child homelessness – something we can all agree needs urgent action.
If housing investment is reclassified as infrastructure spend, Homes England should continue to have oversight. With decades of hands-on experience delivering large-scale housing programmes, they’re best placed to ensure funding is managed effectively and used where it’s needed most.
“We need to recognise that housing, infrastructure and economic growth are inseparable”
But we shouldn’t stop there. Homes England should have the statutory responsibility to own and deliver a long-term housing strategy that covers both existing homes and the ones we still need to build. At the same time, the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority should take charge of a long-term infrastructure strategy.
The key here is proper co-ordination. By putting clear, formal systems in place to connect the two organisations, we can make sure their efforts are aligned, giving parliament and the taxpayers the accountability they deserve. We need to recognise that housing, infrastructure and economic growth are inseparable. Without all three working together, we’ll struggle to unlock the government’s ambition to deliver stronger economic growth.
To make this happen, we need longer-term funding commitments. Why? Because short-term schemes just don’t cut it when it comes to attracting the levels of private investment needed to make large-scale projects stack up. Reclassifying housing investment would be the game-changer that opens the door to new opportunities, brings in serious private investment and gives the housing sector the boost it’s been crying out for.
4. Renewal
While building new homes grabs headlines, we can’t ignore the need to renew and regenerate existing homes. Across the UK, many homes are no longer fit for purpose whether due to their age, poor energy efficiency, or location. Some homes simply aren’t suitable for retrofitting as it is impractical to bring them up to modern standards.
We need a plan that recognises the importance of regeneration, including the difficult reality that some homes will need to be demolished.
This isn’t about writing off communities; it’s about creating new opportunities and better living conditions for the people who live there. Renewal must go hand in hand with building new homes, ensuring that no one is left behind in our drive for a better housing future.
5. Retrofit
Decarbonising homes is one of the biggest challenges we face. Housing accounts for 26% of the UK’s carbon emissions, with social housing representing one in six homes in the country. If we’re serious about hitting net zero targets, retrofitting existing homes is non-negotiable and social housing offers the fastest and easiest way for any government to deliver this.
This needs a clear national plan with realistic but ambitious timelines for decarbonisation. Constantly shifting requirements, expectations and short-term funding make it impossible to deliver widespread improvements. Previous short-term schemes have hampered efforts to deliver place-based, cross-tenure solutions that tackle local challenges head-on and deliver real progress.
Social housing providers need support to extend and speed up our existing investment. Most of this work is currently delivered through the Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund. However, the funding allocated under the scheme falls far short of what’s needed to deliver a significant impact.
“Let’s be clear: retrofitting isn’t just about the environment, it’s about improving lives”
Beyond funding, the government must set out how it’s going to create a workforce capable of delivering decarbonisation works at scale. If we’re serious about decarbonising homes, we need to take a joined-up, local approach. This provides places with the power to build the jobs and skills needed to hit net zero targets.
Only by connecting national plans with local action, can we create real change and a workforce ready for the challenge.
Let’s be clear: retrofitting isn’t just about the environment, it’s about improving lives. Warmer, more energy-efficient homes mean lower bills and healthier living conditions for tenants, some of whom are on the lowest incomes. With the right support, we can tackle fuel poverty and climate change in one go.
6. Right to Buy
Finally, it’s time for a radical overhaul of Right to Buy. Since the scheme was introduced in 1980, more than two million social rent homes have been sold. Shockingly, only 2% have been replaced.
Right to Buy was originally designed to give people a foot on the housing ladder. But in practice, it’s depleted our social housing stock and created a situation where 41% of all homes sold through Right to Buy are now in the private rental sector, often let at inflated prices.
Yorkshire Housing has been busy sharing proposals for a new model of Right to Buy. Key to our proposals is the complete removal of social housing from the Right to Buy scheme. Instead, we should focus on providing affordable, secure homes for those who need them most. This doesn’t mean abandoning homeownership – far from it. We can create alternative pathways to ownership without sacrificing our already limited supply of social housing.
The importance of overhauling Right to Buy cannot be underestimated during a housing and cost of living crisis. There are around 1.3 million people on waiting lists for social housing in England and more than 150,000 children living in temporary accommodation.
Final thoughts
The time for short-term thinking is over. Aligning rent policy, a clear route map and long-term investment plans would give the social housing sector the tools to help deliver the government’s target of 1.5 million homes this parliament. At the same time, it would allow us to focus on improving our existing homes.
Crucially, we must also look beyond this, laying the groundwork for the next decade to ensure sustained progress in delivering new homes and improving existing ones, so communities thrive for years to come.
With support for each of the six Rs, these changes would have a big impact on the housing crisis. We’d be able to build more homes, continue upgrading the quality of the ones we already have, and stop the loss of affordable housing. Without these changes we’ll continue to try to fill a leaky bucket and then wonder why it isn’t working.
Nick Atkin, chief executive, Yorkshire Housing
