Housing associations have a central role to play in building the
homes we need and challenging the attitudes that hold us back,
will say in central London
today, as she announces new long-term funding for affordable
housing.
As part of the Government’s commitment to transform
housebuilding, the Prime Minister will announce £2 billion in new
funding to give housing associations the long-term certainty they
need to deliver tens of thousands of new affordable and social
homes.
As the first Prime Minister to address the National Housing
Federation Summit, she will pledge this morning to work in
partnership with the associations to get more people on the
housing ladder and make sure those who can’t afford their own
place also have somewhere they’re proud to call home.
Setting out the steps government has already taken to respond to
the asks of the sector – including providing long-term certainty
on rents and agreeing not to extend the local housing allowance
cap to the social sector – is expected to announce new
long-term funding for housing associations. She will say:
“You said that if you were going to take a serious role in not
just managing but building the homes this country needs, you had
to have the stability provided by long-term funding deals. Well,
eight housing associations have already been given such deals,
worth almost £600 million and paving the way for almost 15,000
new affordable homes.
“And today, I can announce that new longer-term partnerships will
be opened up to the most ambitious housing associations through a
ground-breaking £2 billion initiative. Under the scheme,
associations will be able to apply for funding stretching as far
ahead as 2028/29 – the first time any government has offered
housing associations such long-term certainty.
“Doing so will give you the stability you need to get tens of
thousands of affordable and social homes built where they are
needed most, and make it easier for you to leverage the private
finance you need to build many more.”
In return, the Prime Minister will call on housing associations
to use their unique combination of qualities – from their close
ties with local communities to their expertise as property
managers and their ability to ride out the business cycle and
carry on building – “to achieve things neither private developers
nor local authorities are capable of doing”. She is expected to
say:
“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. Because
creating the kind of large-scale, high-quality developments this
country needs requires a special kind of leadership – leadership
you are uniquely well-placed to provide.”
“…Given the right tools and the right support, you can act as the
strategic, long-term investors in the kind of high-quality places
this country needs. To put it simply, you get homes built. And I
want to work with you to transform the way we do so.”
The Prime Minister will also urge housing associations to use
their “unique status, rich history and social mission” to change
the way tenants and society as a whole view social housing. She
will say:
“For many people, a certain stigma still clings to social
housing. Some residents feel marginalised and overlooked, and are
ashamed to share the fact that their home belongs to a housing
association or local authority.
“And on the outside, many people in society – including too many
politicians – continue to look down on social housing and, by
extension, the people who call it their home.”
“…We should never see social housing as something that need
simply be “good enough”, nor think that the people who live in it
should be grateful for their safety net and expect no better.
“Whether it is owned and managed by local authorities, TMOs or
housing associations, I want to see social housing that is so
good people are proud to call it their home… Our friends and
neighbours who live in social housing are not second-rate
citizens.”
The Prime Minister has made it her personal mission to get more
people onto the housing ladder. The government has committed over
£40 billion to get more homes built – creating the infrastructure
to unlock sites where they’re needed most and removing
unnecessary barriers to homebuilding, while making it harder for
developers to dodge their obligations on affordable homes.
