15 minutes with… Helen Spencer, executive director of growth at Great Places

There have been a lot of policy announcements over the past few weeks. How challenging is it to stay on top of all the potential changes?

It’s just about understanding all the moving parts and making sure we’re alive to them all. Between planning, net zero, building safety, the impact of inflation and MMC coming into the mix, it’s always shifting.

The construction market is complex and negotiating a build contract is very different from what it was six months ago. Negotiating the details on contract clauses is very different, so we’re on that journey where it’s a real transition period and there’s a lot of change.

It really comes down to having good levels of trust and communication in all your relationships to work through any challenges. We’re all in uncharted territory at the moment with inflation, and when you factor in the forthcoming energy price rises, colleagues across the business are dealing with a number of difficult decisions. So it comes down to having adult conversations and working through what the right solution is.

It’s not always easy to manage but we’re working really hard in a calm and collected way, while at the same time seeking to carry on delivering.

One of the changes that we’ve adapted to already is the new shared ownership model. That’s coming front and centre as a first wave of strategic partnership sites come through. So it’s going to be interesting to see how that plays out with different customers in different areas, and in terms of what is being sold in comparison to other products.

How difficult is it going to be for associations to come to an agreement on the rent settlement next year during a period of double-digit inflation and the cost of living crisis?

We are thinking about our existing residents, for whom it would have a substantial impact, and there are already a lot of discussions about how the potential rent settlement would impact customers. Other colleagues are leading this for Great Places.

On new schemes, as part of all our scheme approvals, we evidence that the new homes will be affordable. But of course earnings are different in different parts of the region. So, if we’re proposing something in Manchester, for example, we will check the earnings data for that area to check affordability of the proposed rents.

And that is something that we prioritise on every single one of our new proposals as we need to think ahead for our future customers.

At the same time, we need to get a balance of scheme viability given construction costs. With inflationary pressure hitting them, it’s difficult and it’s moving week on week.

How is Great Places getting on with building safety remediation?

We don’t have very many high-rise buildings, but we do have some mid rises, so we have a significant investment programme to do the work that was recommended in the Building Safety Bill.

Our mid-rise buildings have all been tested so we understand any concerns. But it’s not just cladding that is the message, it goes far beyond that, so there is work ongoing to prioritise customer safety.

What reasons do you have to be optimistic about the sector?

We were tasked by Homes England with increasing our volume of shared ownership delivery, and it continues to be strong.

We’re still seeing strong offers in the mortgage markets and we’re still seeing high demand from customers. We can’t build shared ownership fast enough for the demands of customers, which is good news, and we’re continuing to collectively do our best, as an executive team and an association, to tackle the housing crisis.

Tell us something about yourself that people might not know.

I’ve got a season ticket at Stockport County FC.