Budget 2018: we’ve had the headlines, now the detail must deliver

For a start, many of those covering the Budget anticipate that Philip Hammond has little wriggle room in public finances. Our sector will be scouring the Budget document for more detail on some of the policies already announced.

Ultimately, we would all benefit from more information about how the ideas – welcome as they are – will work in practice and what funding is set aside for them.

Many have welcomed the announcement of the end of the borrowing cap, with plenty suggesting that it could have the desired effect in encouraging local authorities to draw down on funding to build more homes. But we need more detail on how this relief will turn into active building. Funding is only one part of the puzzle.

“We would all benefit from more information about how the ideas – welcome as they are – will work in practice and what funding is set aside for them.”

We’re also keen to learn from the Budget document how the government envisages councils unlocking capacity by working with organisations from across the housing industry. For instance, councils will need to bring people with the right skills and experience to facilitate collaboration.

The recent calls from Kit Malthouse, housing minister and MP for North West Hampshire in Aster’s region, and Local Government Association chair Lord Gary Porter, for more collaboration between housing associations and local authorities are exactly what is needed.

The increase in joint ventures between housing associations and house builders is evidence of the innovative approach the sector has taken in recent years.

The chancellor should use the Budget to implement a framework that will enable councils to benefit from these partnerships in tandem with the end of the borrowing cap.

“The chancellor should use the Budget to implement a framework that will enable councils to benefit from these partnerships in tandem with the end of the borrowing cap.”

As well as the Budget, there will be attention on the publication of the final report under the Letwin Review.

The review has already suggested that building different kinds of homes could drive up delivery rates, and recent policy announcements indicate that the government itself is coming around to this way of thinking.

Mr Malthouse also supported alternative choices in the market in his Westminster speech earlier in October and called out shared ownership as one option.

Meanwhile, analysis from the Campaign to Protect Rural England suggests that redirecting money from Help to Buy into a broader range of housing would allow the government to support supply in the market as well as fostering demand.

The Budget, which is due to be published alongside the Letwin Review, will hopefully take account of this.

Whether it’s a Budget packed with new announcements – which admittedly seems unlikely – or affirmations of what we know already, it’s clear the government accepts housing associations have a vital role to play in the market.

Part of this is down to the innovative and progressive approach organisations have taken in recent years.

The government now expects a continued push from the sector to increase housebuilding rates. This is as it should be.

And if we are to see a boom, it must be based on collaboration between the public and private sectors, with housing associations playing a pivotal role between them.

Bjorn Howard, chief executive, Aster Group