You are viewing 1 of your 1 free articles
Housing minister promises plan to get councils building more homes
The housing minister has indicated that his department is working on a new range of plans to encourage councils to build more homes.
Speaking at the Housing 2022 conference in Manchester, Stuart Andrew said the government is reviewing how it could support councils to build more homes and would be making an announcement on this “very soon”.
Answering questions on the announcement after his speech, Mr Andrew said that he and housing secretary Michael Gove share the ambition to build more affordable housing, but want to see councils contributing greater numbers.
Mr Andrew said: “I want to work with councils across the country to see more council [housing] being built.
“Some councils are leading the way and we need to work with them, work with the [government] to see how we can share those expertise so those councils struggling to get off ground, as it were, can learn from neighbours who are making progress.
“I have heard loud and clear from across the country that people do want to learn from those doing it well and those that are doing well are keen to share, so we need to seize that opportunity.”
READ MORE
As part of the speech, the housing minister also committed to the 300,000 homes a year target, but caveated this by saying that people needed to look beyond just the numbers.
“It isn’t just about targets, think is the point it is about the quality of the housing that we are building,” he said.
“I too often [hear] complaints from people who’ve moved into new homes that the standard wasn’t good enough.”
He added that it was important the government and industry think strategically about where new housing is going so that it can marry up with expected investment in some areas.
“We are definitely aiming to get to the 300,000 [figure], but it’s much broader, it’s about the quality and where those houses are being built is just as important than the numbers, but the target remains,” he said.
Responding to a question about the current state of inflation and how that could impact on future rent-setting for social housing providers, Mr Andrew said the department saw it as “a very big issue”.
Throughout the conference this week, delegates have raised concerns about the expected double-digit rise to rents under the Consumer Price Index plus 1% formula.
Mr Andrew: “We recognise it as a real balancing act, because we’ve got to help those turn in this cost of living and difficulties that we’ve got, but equally providers need to maintain those homes and we want to build more affordable homes.
“It is a real challenge. And we’re working at pace within the department to respond to that, and I hope we’ll be able to say much more very soon.”
