MIPIM: we need to move beyond looking at housing in isolation, says chair of Southampton City Region

“Otherwise you attempt mixed communities. But, inevitably, there will be local communities and families that are left behind.”

The leader of the Labour group said she was open to partnering with housing associations and others to address the city’s housing and infrastructure needs, but in a way that moves away from “growth for growth’s sake”.

She added: “Growth must be a means to an end, and the end being better life chances and opportunities for local communities.”

Ms Kaur was asked about housing targets for different tenures, such as those in Inside Housing’s Build Social campaign, she said she believes that it was “short-sighted and naive” for the government to scrap mandatory housing targets.

“If 80% of people across the world will be living in urban areas by 2030 we really need to start looking at city regions and funding for housing. Talented people want to live and work and study and visit cities but that will not happen unless you’ve got the right housing mix,” she added.

“I’m really pleased that the Labour Party have said that housing is a huge priority for them and they really want to drive it forward. If you really believe in councils and subsidised housing and transforming communities that change people’s lives, then you need to invest in it.”

On Southampton’s existing stock, the parliamentary hopeful said there is a huge estate regeneration programme underway as a lot of the council’s stock had come to the end of its life.

Ms Kaur added: “I’d like everyone to see where we’re trying to deliver that with partnership, but what we’re really keen to avoid is just looking at housing in isolation.

“I fundamentally believe that if you get someone’s housing needs right, it can help solve half of society’s problems, such as education and employment and health and well-being.”

Ms Kaur told Inside Housing that estate renewal needs to come with the infrastructure around it that includes schools, GP surgeries and transport, but also creating aspiration through high-skilled and well-paid jobs. 

Growth areas for the city include the waterfront and marina, as well as developing skills in sustainability and research, which would in part be driven by Southampton’s two “world-leading” universities and the National Oceanography Centre.

Ms Kaur said: “There’s about £70bn of trade that goes through Southampton, so it’s about investing to generate that space and rebuild the relationship between the water and our waterfront and our communities.

“But it’s not just about the city centre, because we’re expanding at a greater pace and scale, so we desperately need the housing alongside the city’s huge regeneration potential.”

At MIPIM on Tuesday, Cardiff Council’s assistant director of development and regeneration talked about the challenges of spending social housing grant and why MIPIM offers a chance to create growth and jobs across the region.