Theresa May throws support behind housing associations in landmark speech

Ms May, who opened her address by paying tribute to David Orr, retiring chief executive of the National Housing Federation (NHF), left the stage to rapturous applause and a partial standing ovation.

It marks an incredible turnaround in the sector’s relationship with the highest levels of government, which sank to a nadir in 2015 when David Cameron publicly attacked its efficiency amid cuts to funding and a total focus on homeownership as a priority above social rented housing.

Ms May has consistently moved away from this position throughout her premiership, but today’s speech represented a high-water mark, placing housing associations at the centre of her plans to tackle what she calls her “number one domestic priority”.

Her speech was also peppered with challenge to the sector to step up delivery, both in terms of the new homes and the management of existing estates, in return for the government’s backing.

She told delegates: “For too long, the housing association contribution has been ignored at the highest levels. But no longer. You asked for government support. You have it.

“Now it is your turn to act, building the homes we need and challenging the attitudes that hold us back.”

Paying tribute to Mr Orr, she said: “In his 12 years at the helm, David has done much to refocus and re-energise the housing association sector.

“It has been a pleasure working with [him] since I became prime minister and I am sorry to see [him] go.”

She added that the NHF has found a “worthy successor” in Kate Henderson, the current chief executive of the Town and Country Planning Association, who will take over from Mr Orr when he steps down this month.

She said the fact that no prime minister had previously appeared at a sector event “speaks volumes about the way in which social housing has, for too long and under successive governments, been pushed to the edge of the political debate”.

“Well, I’m very pleased to say that is no longer the case,” she said. “Because, since my very first day in Downing Street, I have made it my personal mission to fix our broken housing system.”

After listing the various government housing programmes, she said the government had met three key lobbying asks of the sector: a return to inflation-linked rent rises, a U-turn on plans to cap social rents at Local Housing Allowance levels and long-term strategic partnerships for housing grant.

“You asked, we delivered. Now, I have something to ask of you,” she said. “Today, I’m asking housing associations to use the tools we have given you. Not just to build more homes, though of course more homes are needed.

“But to take the lead in transforming the very way in which we think about and deliver housing in this country.

“Rather than simply acquiring a proportion of the properties commercial developers build, I want to see housing associations taking on and leading major developments themselves.”

She said associations’ “unique status as public interested, non-profit private institutions allows you to attract patient investment and deploy it to secure long-term returns on quality rather than short-term speculative gains”.

“This combination of qualities allows housing associations to achieve things neither private developers nor local authorities are capable of doing,” she said.

She specifically cited the success of L&Q at Barking Riverside – a 10,000-home development in east London which it picked up following years of inaction from private house builders – and Peabody at Thamesmead – a major estate regeneration in south-east London which the association is leading.

To applause, she added that on a mixed-tenure development “you should not be able to tell by looking which homes are affordable and which were sold at the market rate”.

Turning to the Grenfell Tower fire, she said that residents of the estate in west London where the tower is located “felt ignored, patronised and overlooked” by the managers of the estate.

She said: “Over the past year the issues they raised have been echoed by social housing tenants across the country. Repairs botched or neglected. Problems not dealt with. Complaints ignored. Again, it does not have to be this way.”

She called on the sector to “be at the forefront of showing what good property management looks like”.

Ending her speech on a glowing tribute to the work of housing associations, she namechecked the Victorian founders of the housing association sector, the Cathy Come Home film and called the rise of social housing “the biggest collective leap in living standards in British history”.

“Fixing our broken housing market will not be quick or easy. But it can be done,” she said.

“And, with this government’s support, housing associations can be at the centre of making it happen. Building on more than a century of history, and carrying forward the torch of high-quality, affordable housing for generations to come.”

Ms May left promptly after her speech to attend crunch Brexit talks in Salzburg.

Housing and communities secretary James Brokenshire will address the conference tomorrow.