National Housing Federation Summit
Secretary of State Rt Hon James Brokenshire MP speaking at the National Housing Federation Summit.
Thanks to Baroness Warwick for that kind introduction.
It바카라 사이트檚 a great pleasure to be here 바카라 사이트� albeit on a site that I understand once housed one of Britain바카라 사이트檚 so-called ugliest buildings.
Some of you may remember 바카라 사이트� and even mourn 바카라 사이트� the County Hall Island Block apartments that stood empty here for 20 years before a 6-year old boy got his wish to set the bulldozers in motion.
Now we may all have our different views on architecture and design.
But I think we can agree that you know you바카라 사이트檝e succeeded when you바카라 사이트檙e not constructing buildings that 6-year-olds want to demolish!
It바카라 사이트檚 also genuinely a great privilege to be speaking before we hear from David [Orr] for the final time in his role as the National Housing Federation바카라 사이트檚 (NHF) Chief Executive.
Though, I understand, it바카라 사이트檚 not just his speeches which are much much-anticipated.
I hear his performances at NHF karaoke nights, too, are also quite a draw.
And while I can바카라 사이트檛 promise to match David바카라 사이트檚 musical talents, I바카라 사이트檒l do my best as the warm-up act!
Before I go on, I want to firstly applaud the tremendous leadership and public service David has shown through a long and distinguished career.
I also want to welcome your successor, Kate Henderson, and say how much I바카라 사이트檓 looking forward to working with Kate.
I know you바카라 사이트檒l be putting your own stamp on the role, but what a great legacy to build on.
David, you have transformed the housing association sector and inspired and challenged us all to raise our game for people living in social housing and, indeed, all parts of our community, including the most vulnerable.
I think that바카라 사이트檚 the thing I have been most struck by, David바카라 사이트檚 passion, leadership, and humanity too 바카라 사이트� it comes from the heart and we have all been strengthened by it.
And I바카라 사이트檓 especially grateful for your contribution to the Rough Sleeping Advisory Panel which helped develop the Rough Sleeping Strategy we published recently 바카라 사이트� an issue that I know matters greatly to us both.
This Strategy - and, indeed, all our work on housing 바카라 사이트� is driven by the belief that everyone must have the security, dignity and opportunities they need to build a better life.
As the Prime Minister said yesterday, this mission is absolutely central to this government바카라 사이트檚 priorities 바카라 사이트� and very much in keeping with your founding ideals as a sector.
And, working with you, we바카라 사이트檙e delivering on it.
Housing associations played a big role in helping us deliver 217,000 homes in 2016 to 2017 바카라 사이트� the highest level in all but one of the last 30 years. And I바카라 사이트檓 hugely grateful for all of your efforts.
But we know you can and want to do more.
Which is why we바카라 사이트檝e listened to what you바카라 사이트檝e told us - about wanting more certainty and stability to be able to protect and boost supply - and have responded.
We바카라 사이트檝e put billions into affordable housing, including homes for social rent, and given housing associations a leading role in delivering this through long term funding deals.
We바카라 사이트檝e given you more certainty over your rental income.
We바카라 사이트檝e retained the funding for supported accommodation within Housing Benefit.
We바카라 사이트檝e enabled councils to borrow more to build more.
We바카라 사이트檙e supporting Homes England to take a more strategic, assertive approach 바카라 사이트� putting more certainty into the system - and reforming planning to get Britain building.
We바카라 사이트檙e also taking action on other issues that you바카라 사이트檝e raised such as doing more to capture increases in land value for the public good through:
- changes to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF),
- Section 106 planning obligations,
- and the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL)
But I know there is more to do.
And as the Prime Minister said yesterday, we바카라 사이트檒l be responding shortly to a consultation on developer contributions that includes proposals to help councils capture land values more effectively.
So the sector has never been better placed to really step up and help deliver the homes our country needs.
But this isn바카라 사이트檛 just about getting the numbers up.
It바카라 사이트檚 also about changing the false attitudes towards social housing.
Challenging the mistakes and flawed perceptions about people living in social housing.
About improving the experience of tenants - and rebalancing their relationship with landlords through stronger regulation.
And following the terrible tragedy at Grenfell Tower, ensuring, above all, that homes are decent, safe and well-maintained.
Which is what the social housing green paper published last month aims to do.
My thanks to David and housing associations for their enthusiasm and support for the extensive engagement that we carried out with residents that helped inform this work.
Yes, the Paper reminded us of the challenges that people living in social housing face.
Stigma.
The need for landlords to be more transparent and accountable.
Concerns about how complaints are handled.
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To quote one resident we spoke to: 바카라 사이트淚 feel privileged and lucky to be a housing association tenant. Having an affordable secure and quality home means everything and has helped me into employment. And the security has also helped my children be happy and successful.바카라 사이트�
As the Prime Minister said, we need to do more to reinforce that pride in social housing.
That sense that it can be both a safety net and a springboard to a better life
Something we treasure in the way we do our NHS.
That바카라 사이트檚 why we바카라 사이트檙e investing in the sector and giving you the longer-term certainty that will help you build more, faster - both now and into the future.
In July, I announced 8 longer-term strategic partnerships between housing associations and Homes England worth around 拢590 million which will yield about 14,000 new affordable homes, including for social rent.
And which will see us championing modern methods of construction and more small and medium sized builders playing their part in a more diverse market.
And I want to thank both the NHF and Homes England 바카라 사이트� under David and Nick Walkley바카라 사이트檚 leadership respectively - for their valuable work on making this happen.
The Prime Minister바카라 사이트檚 announcement, yesterday, of the 拢2 billion initiative 바카라 사이트� enabling the most ambitious housing associations to apply for funding over the next decade 바카라 사이트� takes this to the next level.
This bold, new scheme is the first time any government has offered you this kind of long-term funding certainty and stability.
As such, it promises to be a game-changer 바카라 사이트� not just because it will help you get tens of thousands of new affordable and social homes built and provide a strong impetus for you to go further.
But because the certainty and stability that underpins it signals a new approach to the way we invest in and deliver housing in this country.
An approach that is a real vote of confidence in housing associations and places you firmly in the driving seat - to be industry leaders in building more and better, in driving innovation and setting higher standards for the way social housing is managed and the people who live in it are supported.
With your - as Diana put it yesterday 바카라 사이트� special combination of a 바카라 사이트渃ore social purpose바카라 사이트� and 바카라 사이트済ood business sense바카라 사이트� you are uniquely well placed to pick up this baton.
So I urge you to make the most of this opportunity to help us deliver a new generation of social housing and help secure the high quality homes that people who can바카라 사이트檛 afford to buy or rent privately deserve.
These have to be homes that meet their needs.
And having listened to residents, we바카라 사이트檝e decided, for example, not to implement the provisions in the Housing and Planning Act to make fixed term tenancies mandatory for local authorities at this time.
We understand that lifetime tenancies are, for some people, for some communities, essential for providing the security and stability they need to make a place truly feel like home.
That바카라 사이트檚 why it바카라 사이트檚 right that all social landlords should have the freedom to offer them.
Now, it바카라 사이트檚 also right and fair that social housing can be a springboard to home ownership.
And I want to commend the vital work by David and the NHF with this government on the Voluntary Right to Buy agreement.
This has already helped hundreds of housing association tenants to buy their homes and thousands more are set to benefit from the latest, large-scale Midlands pilot that launched last month.
We will be monitoring this closely; in particular in relation to replacing homes that are sold.
This groundbreaking partnership between government and the sector is an important step towards extending the dream of home ownership.
With that in mind, we have to challenge what I believe to be false choices.
In particular that you can either boost the supply of rented properties or support home ownership 바카라 사이트� that you can바카라 사이트檛 do both.
This doesn바카라 사이트檛 have to be the case.
Whilst championing better standards for renters, we should not apologise for backing the aspiration around home ownership.
Two thirds of social housing residents would like to be home owners.
These people 바카라 사이트� who run our businesses, keep our public services going, contribute to society in countless ways 바카라 사이트� are just as hard-working, ambitious and keen to improve their communities as anyone else.
We should recognise that ambition and provide that opportunity to which they aspire.
The social housing green paper sets out how we can do this, whilst also ensuring that councils can replace homes sold.
There바카라 사이트檚 nothing contradictory about this 바카라 사이트� about building more affordable homes and helping people meet the aim of home ownership.
I believe to say otherwise, is a false choice.
We have to do both.
And nor is there anything contradictory about promoting ownership and tackling stigma 바카라 사이트� another all too common false choice.
To do otherwise would be to ignore the ambition of the vast majority of social housing tenants.
All I want is to help each person living in social housing to make the right choice for themselves 바카라 사이트� not have it made for them.
And the same goes for another false choice that pits building more homes against building better homes.
We바카라 사이트檙e determined to deliver 300,000 homes on average a year by the middle of the next decade, but not at any price.
These are not just a roof over our heads. They are the foundations on which our lives and communities are built.
As the philosopher Sir Roger Scruton put it: 바카라 사이트淲e are needy creatures and our greatest need is for home바카라 사이트ll our attempts to make our surroundings look right - through decorating, arranging, creating - are attempts to extend a welcome to ourselves and to those whom we love.바카라 사이트�
So good design and style matter 바카라 사이트� arguably more, not less, for people living in social housing and combatting the stigma that surrounds it.
It바카라 사이트檚 not our job in government to dictate what this looks like, but we all know how it feels.
Good design produces places that people have helped shape and are proud to call home.
It protects and strengthens the beauty of our natural environment.
It adds to the value of existing settlements for years to come, making it more likely that new development will be welcomed rather than resisted.
Therefore, building better will, in fact, help us build more 바카라 사이트� something that our social housing green paper recognises and how that must apply to social and affordable homes as it does to any other types of housing.
So it바카라 사이트檚 time we rejected these false choices.
Accept we can and should extend home ownership as well as deliver more quality affordable rented homes.
Accept that there is nothing incompatible or contradictory about these goals which, after all, have the same end: more people having decent, secure, comforting places they call home.
Accept that they are goals which are within our grasp.
The truth is that the best communities; the most interesting and successful communities, where most people want to live, tend to be mixed and diverse.
Places where people from all backgrounds, living in all types of housing, can come together, bound by a strong sense of belonging and identity.
Yes, we are facing a huge challenge.
But I know that there바카라 사이트檚 no sector better placed than you to meet it.
As the Prime Minister said, you have blazed a trail for many high quality and, yes, beautiful homes that have stood the test of time and served the public good.
That make a mockery of arguments that high density and affordability have to equal low quality and a lack of character.
This is the difference that I know we all want to see as we look forward.
As David said in the aftermath of the Grenfell fire, we have an 바카라 사이트渙bligation바카라 사이트o make this a moment of change바카라 사이트�.
It바카라 사이트檚 clear that, to do this, to make this difference, to meet that obligation, we need all parts of the sector to pull together.
We바카라 사이트檝e responded to your calls for more support.
And I바카라 사이트檓 looking forward to seeing housing associations; with your unique and impressive track record, seizing this unprecedented opportunity and leading the charge.
To deliver the homes we need and the brighter future our people deserve.