Housing Market Intelligence conference 2018
Housing Minister Kit Malthouse MP speech to the Housing Market Intelligence (HMI) conference.
Thank you Steve. You are quite right I am this Housing Minister this week.
You are probably wonder who is this guy? You are quite right, I was appointed Housing Minister 12 weeks ago.
Plucked from obscurity from the Department for Work and Pensions where I had been responsible for housing benefit and introduced to the dynamics of social housing.
Before that I developed commercial property in the 1990s and later became the finance director of a small boutique development firm.
When the Prime Minister asked me to take on this job, she was clear about my task. These are now 3 words I live by: more, better, faster.
So today I바카라 사이트檇 like to talk a little more about that mission statement 바카라 사이트� more, better, faster 바카라 사이트� and how we can get there.
More
Starting with more. Back in 2010 we were getting 134,000 net additional homes a year. You are have all done very well and today that바카라 사이트檚 up 55% to 217,000.
My first note to you is thank you! On behalf of government and the hundreds of thousands of people who now have a home.
But moving forward to our target is 300,000 바카라 사이트� we바카라 사이트檙e a government in delivery mode. But that needs a bold and radical approach.
Anyone that wants to be building houses should be enabled to do that.
The last time Britain was building enough homes, local councils were making a huge contribution.
And again today, councils want to step up and play their part. But they need to borrow more to build more.
So, as the Prime Minister announced in her conference speech, we바카라 사이트檙e scrapping the cap on how much councils can borrow against their Housing Revenue Account 바카라 사이트� entirely.
We바카라 사이트檝e empowered them to build the next generation of council houses 바카라 사이트� homes that will help make the housing market work for everyone.
As well as enabling local authorities to deliver as many as 10,000 homes a year, it will help diversify our building market, with councils able to take on projects and sites private developers might consider too small.
Homes England 바카라 사이트� our new national housing agency 바카라 사이트� is buying and assembling land and building the infrastructure we need. They바카라 사이트檙e ironing out those market failures that all too often hold us back.
And we바카라 사이트檙e freeing up surplus public land for development 바카라 사이트� from the likes of the NHS and the Ministry of Defence 바카라 사이트� enabling thousands of homes to be built and helping us to reinvest in vital public services.
But as everyone here knows, to build more homes we바카라 사이트檝e got to move beyond that conventional wisdom of supply and demand.
We need to recognise that this is not just a housebuilding industry, but a finance industry. When I was involved it was much about our finance structure, than our supply numbers.
I바카라 사이트檓 reminded of that great moment in the film The Founder, where Ray Croc 바카라 사이트� the guy who expanded McDonald바카라 사이트檚 and made it what it is today 바카라 사이트� was getting schooled by his financial advisor.
He told him: 바카라 사이트淵ou don바카라 사이트檛 seem to realise what business you바카라 사이트檙e in. You바카라 사이트檙e not in the burger business. You바카라 사이트檙e in the real estate business바카라 사이트�.
Like them, we recognise that land and finance are at the heart of growth.
And since the crash of 2007-08, these have been 2 particularly tough challenges.
It바카라 사이트檚 why we in government are taking a more assertive approach on both 바카라 사이트� intervening in the market where it isn바카라 사이트檛 working.
But there are other clever things we can do, like our recent deal with Barclays: we바카라 사이트檝e put in 拢125 million targeted at housebuilding with a tilt to SMEs, and they바카라 사이트檝e topped it up to a billion pounds.
Or the Build to Rent market, which hardly existed 5 years ago, but because of our support we바카라 사이트檝e now got more than 125,000 Build to Rent homes delivered or in the pipeline.
It바카라 사이트檚 only these kinds of bold and innovative steps that can get us to our 300,000 targets, and we are keen to do more of this.
Lastly, we need to send long term capacity signals.
Ambitious developers need to know their commitment is being matched by the government, which is shown with our 拢44 billon of total investment.
Better
But building more doesn바카라 사이트檛 mean we can바카라 사이트檛 build better 바카라 사이트� we바카라 사이트檝e got to quash that myth for good.
In fact, the more we build, the more important it is we get it right.
Those of you who follow politics may of heard of Lynton Crosby, who famously said 바카라 사이트測ou have to look at the qual over the quad mate바카라 사이트�.
Design matters on all sets of levels, for planning and acceptability.
It바카라 사이트檚 perfectly possible for modern, efficient, technology driven design to echo our history and reflect the local area without becoming pastiche.
And when it comes to design, no matter what you do, there are always people who won바카라 사이트檛 be happy. It바카라 사이트檚 a bit like being a politician!
But we know what those places should feel like.
Places that not only make you happy but keep you well.
Places that can move you from fear and anxiety to hope and happiness.
Places that welcome you, inspire you and smash stigma.
Because no matter where you바카라 사이트檙e coming from on this, our first obligation must be to the people we serve.
And I believe there is a role for government here, to ensure people get what they need.
The new revised National Planning Policy Framework 바카라 사이트� our new planning rulebook 바카라 사이트� gives communities a greater voice on the look and feel of developments.
Because in decades to come, we want to look back on this new golden age of house building, not through the windscreen of a bulldozer, but with the view to treasure, preserve and invest in it.
And today, I don바카라 사이트檛 think many people can honestly say they바카라 사이트檙e building the conservation areas of the future.
But the bottom line is this: build more beautifully, sell more houses.
Because you바카라 사이트檙e more likely to get permission and you바카라 사이트檙e more likely to find willing buyers if you do.
Today, 60% of people surveyed said they바카라 사이트檇 never live in a new-build. If people think that, clearly we바카라 사이트檙e not building the right types of new-build.
This has to be about design right? Any other industry with this response to their product would be in trouble.
I urge you to look at design.
Developments of 500 units or more are bigger than most villages, so we need to think in terms of those kinds of neighbourhoods.
Although they won바카라 사이트檛 necessarily need a world-class concert hall like here at the Barbican, our communities do need vital infrastructure like roads, clinics and schools.
Get that right, and you will find yourself in that most rare and wonderful of situations 바카라 사이트� one where residents actually welcome new development.
When you as an industry have moved into your 90s and retired. Will you look back at what you build over your career with pride?
Have you built the conservation area of the future?
Faster
And the third area is faster. What can we do to power through to 300,000 homes a year.
While building better will get permissions up, we also need a faster and more flexible planning system to match.
That바카라 사이트檚 what the new revised National Planning Policy Framework does.
We have had big regulation on planning and asking councils to be upfront on what they need for their 106 requirements.
We want to give you as an industry more certainty on how you can build, where you can build and what you can build.
So, the whole process is quicker.
We are also pressuring local authorities, to have a clear plan in place for their local need.
Both through the National Planning Policy Framework delivery test and political pressure.
But we also need to see a change on the side of developers.
If you took a builder Back to the Future in the DeLorean from 1985 to a present-day construction site, they would find that very little has actually changed.
Innovation is coming, and I urge you to grasp it.
We are starting to see it already with new modern methods of construction, offsite construction.
There바카라 사이트檚 robot brick layers who can build a house 4 times faster than a human; push fit systems that are changing plumbing; and before long we바카라 사이트檒l have far-field charging transforming how electricians work.
The winds of change are coming and I don바카라 사이트檛 want to see anyone become the Kodak of the housebuilding industry.
Obsolete because new technologies have taken over.
And that바카라 사이트檚 not just about technology 바카라 사이트� it바카라 사이트檚 also about talent.
Look at the financial industry, highly regulated and only 10 years ago dominated by a few small big players at the top.
Innovation has blown a hurricane through the finance industry, with talented members of those organisations have started their own thing.
We want to see small and medium sized builders, and even people who are half way down big organisations, to think they have the support to become the next Lawrie Barratt.
I want to see a vigorous and vibrant market, competing on design, on volume, on quality and on tenure.
We바카라 사이트檒l support you. Our is giving SME builders the confidence to grow while promoting modern methods of construction and custom build.
So far, more than 拢120 million of loans have been agreed for projects using modern methods of construction, and we바카라 사이트檙e working with the finance and insurance industries to make these properties more mortgageable.
Conclusion
So why are we doing this? What바카라 사이트檚 this for? Let바카라 사이트檚 make hay when the sun is shining. All the stars are aligning. Demand is there with more land becoming available.
Cheap rent is available, and the government is able to assist when it바카라 사이트檚 not.
We need to bear in mind that we don바카라 사이트檛 operate on an island. That there is currently a breakdown in society in this sense of intergeneration fairness.
Young people have a growing sense of resentment to a housing industry they feel has failed them.
Owning a home is becoming a distant dream to people in their 20s and 30s.
They don바카라 사이트檛 feel like the generations before them is giving them a fair deal.
We have a moral duty to the future generation.
The triple challenge 바카라 사이트� more, better, faster 바카라 사이트� is the key to to this country바카라 사이트檚 happiness, health and prosperity.
If we get to 300,000 by the mid-2020s, I hope and believe future generations will look back at us as a golden generation of housebuilding.
And I look forward to working with all of you, to build a housing market that works for everyone.
Thank you.