Gove: major landowners can do more to build social rent
Major landowners can do more to build social rent homes, housing secretary Michael Gove has told Inside Housing.
In an exclusive interview with Inside Housing for the magazine’s 40th anniversary, Mr Gove said he was in conversations with landowners about increasing the supply of social rent homes within their forthcoming developments.
Mr Gove said: “We can look at some of the existing major landowners who are keen, out of a sense of stewardship, to provide more land for development, and who are keen to ensure that when that land is developed there is a mix of genuinely affordable and socially rented homes, to do more.”
Prince William’s initiative to use his private estate, the Duchy of Cornwall, for more social rent homes is one example, he explained.
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“We are convening conversations with other major landowners in order to see if we can do more, because if you’ve got a whole society approach – central government, local government, housing associations, landowners – thinking about how we can increase supply overall and the number of social homes within that, then we can build on the progress that we’ve made,” Mr Gove added.
Last year, just 9,561 social rent homes were completed, while nearly three times as many (27,616) were demolished or sold off under the Right to Buy.
Mr Gove was asked what the government makes of Inside Housing’s Build Social campaign, which is calling for 90,000 social rent homes a year over the next decade in England.
He said it was “certainly… an honestly arrived-at assessment of need”. The trend of social rent building was downwards and “to get it back up, I think that 30,000 is a stretching but achievable goal… So I won’t rubbish or criticise the 90,000 ambition. But I also recognise that if I were to try to commit the government to it at this stage, I would be over-promising.”
“There is realisation across parties that we need to, as you said, build more social,” he continued. “It’s just a case of using all of the tools available, and learning as we go.”
Reworking the Affordable Homes Programme to deliver more social rent is important, Mr Gove said, “but what landowners do, what the planning system does, what housing associations do, matter as well”.
In a wide-ranging interview, Mr Gove said his officials were working on a construction products regulation white paper and committed to publishing the Grenfell Inquiry report in full when it is delivered.
“I’m sure that the report will contain criticisms of government,” he said. “I hope we’ve shown in the last few years that we recognise the many areas where improvement was needed… But it’s only right that Sir Martin [Moore-Bick] and his team publish that report at the time that they deem right, in full, and that we respond as quickly as possible.”
He also said the latest figures on children living in temporary accommodation were “terrible” and “we do have a significant problem” with homelessness.
You can read the full interview with the housing secretary here.
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