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We must make the case for the right funding levels across the entire country
The idea of ‘levelling up’ is more complex than just a debate between North and South, argues Nick Atkin
The next few weeks will be a pivotal time. With the Budget and Spending Review just around the corner, we will soon get a clear indication of the government’s housing priorities.
A new phrase being heard from the government is ‘levelling up’. This is recognition that funding and investment have not always been targeted at those areas that have struggled economically.
This is not about a North-South or East-West competition for the same pot of money. It’s a more complex conundrum that varies from place to place. The focus needs to be on making the case for the right levels of investment to tackle the housing crisis across the entire country.
I’ve written previously to highlight how classifying housing investment as infrastructure spend could provide the longer-term funding certainty we need.
Homes for the North has highlighted how some relatively simple changes by the government to spending rules in the Treasury’s The Green Book could result in additional investment being made available for the benefit of all communities across the country.
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Although we have a mayor in the Sheffield city region, political devolution doesn’t yet cover the rest of Yorkshire. One thing we do know is that we need a shared voice to be heard.
That’s why all the housing associations in Yorkshire have jointly agreed just two priority areas: responding to the climate crisis and making the case for devolution.
“The focus needs to be on making the case for the right levels of investment to tackle the housing crisis across the entire country”
Collaboration is already achieving real results. Forge New Homes is a new and innovative joint venture partnership between five housing associations: SYHA, Great Places, Together Housing, Guinness Partnership and Yorkshire Housing.
This partnership aims to address the shortfall in housing by developing at least 300 new homes each year, increasing to at least 500 new homes annually.
This joint venture is investing in new housing on a mixed tenure, beyond our existing individual organisational activity, to address the housing shortfall across the Sheffield city region. It’s about making the sum greater than the individual parts. It has created a focus for land-finding activity, thereby reducing the competition and price inflation for development sites.
Forge New Homes has taken balanced, commercial risks that the individual associations might have been unable to make themselves.
As well as de-risking mixed-use sites, it will also create surpluses. These will be used to finance new housing developments across the Sheffield city region.
Collaboration isn’t restricted to formal structures, and there are numerous examples of collaboration between housing associations, local authorities and house builders.
This provides a greater opportunity to share skills, resources, risks and rewards. Everyone can play to their strengths to maximise the delivery of homes and the speed at which they can be built.
At an individual level, Yorkshire Housing is also playing its part in responding to the housing crisis.
Last week, we launched our new business strategy. This confirms our commitment to build 8,000 new homes in the next 10 years.
This isn’t an empty promise. We have the confidence and long-term funding certainty that being a strategic partner with Homes England provides.
“Collaboration isn’t restricted to formal structures, and there are numerous examples of collaboration between housing associations, local authorities and house builders”
But it isn’t just about the numbers. We are also focusing on the quality of new homes, taking into account place, design and affordability regardless of tenure. For a home to be truly affordable, the cost of living should be lowered by using low-energy solutions and removing a reliance on fossil-fuel heating systems.
Our housing needs to be more diverse to reflect local needs and demands, as well as to respond to changing demographics.
The long-term certainty offered by Homes England has been a key factor in our scaling up of our investment plans. The government needs to learn from this and apply these principles widely to the housing sector across the country, if we are to collectively deliver the much-needed homes and play our part in responding to the housing crisis.
Nick Atkin, chief executive, Yorkshire Housing
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