Meanwhile, as well as grappling with the implications of the return of mandatory housebuilding targets, local government's immediate focus is often as much on issues such as temporary accommodation and stock condition, as it is on new build. Is this a disconnect or simply different perspectives on the same problem?
New Government housing policies
A number of the specific housing pledges have been made by the new Labour Government – in their manifesto, the King's Speech, and the new draft National Planning Policy Framework, such as:
• The Planning and Infrastructure Bill, as announced in the King's Speech, which is designed to ‘speed up and streamline the planning process to build more homes of all tenures and accelerate the delivery of major infrastructure projects'.
• The updates to the National Planning Policy Framework to include the restoration of mandatory housing targets
• A brownfield-first approach, prioritising the development of previously used land wherever possible, and fast-tracking approval of urban brownfield sites
• The release of lower quality ‘grey belt' land to be prioritised, supported by the introduction of ‘golden rules' to ensure development benefits communities and nature
• Giving combined authorities new planning powers along with new freedoms and flexibilities to make better use of grant funding
• Supporting councils and housing associations to build their capacity and make a greater contribution to affordable housing supply
• Delivery of the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation
• The development of a cross-government strategy, working with Mayors and councils across the country, to put Britain ‘back on track to ending homelessness'.
Some of these announcements are newer and more radical than others – but the focus is clear: new housing development.
Local government responses
From our work with councils, combined authorities, and devolved governments, the appetite for housing growth is as strong as ever – whether that comes in the form of identifying, filtering, prioritising, and developing sites for new homes, or unblocking sites which are at risk of stalling owing to nutrient neutrality issues.
Given the scale of the overall housing supply challenge, and that the country last reached such levels when councils were major housebuilders, there is an ambition from councils to play an increasingly active part in boosting housing supply. This spans reopening Housing Revenue Accounts (HRA) to establishing housing delivery vehicles for the purposes of developing new homes. It is estimated that there are more than 200 housing delivery vehicles in existence and owned by local authorities, in the UK today. In many cases, we see these underperforming against their original business plans, for a range of reasons, including economic shocks and optimism bias at the business planning stage.
Yet we also see social housing providers downscaling their development programmes, both in local government and housing associations. Reasons include the planning system and the cost pressures arising from the benefit cap are well rehearsed, but there are plenty of others too. Clearly this is not because social housing providers want to downscale their plans in the midst of an affordable housing crisis.
Homelessness and temporary accommodation
As well as wider economic pressures, social housing providers are grappling with many more immediate pressures and calls on resources. For example, we work with many local authorities who are struggling with homelessness, and come to us for support in identifying the best options to meet future need for temporary accommodation.
Development programmes – whether by the council itself through the HRA or through a delivery vehicle – can certainly be one tool in the box to achieve this. However, the pressures of increased costs, revenue streams which are significantly lower than anticipated when the HRA system changed in 2012 (due to the benefits cap and higher regulatory standards), mean that there are significant downward pressures on HRA development programmes.
The good news is that for all the challenges, there are many other routes to address homelessness and many of these involve better use of existing housing. This can be achieved through a range of mechanisms including:
• Partnering with specialist housing providers of emergency accommodation
• Acquisitions (either by the council itself or through a delivery vehicle)
• Change of use of properties (we have worked with councils who have acquired properties from student halls of residence to sheltered housing, and refurbished them as temporary accommodation)
• Partnerships with private investors, including pension backed providers
• The growing number of social impact funds which exist and are looking to partner with local government in providing housing for an agreed term.
To support the sector we developed a tool that enables any council in the land to assess the best of these (and other) options to meet their local needs. You can find it on our website www.localpartnerships.gov.uk.
Meanwhile, effective prevention work – an area which councils can struggle to resource while firefighting growing levels of immediate urgent need – will always be key to any homelessness strategy.
Investment in existing housing stock
As well as new pressures when it comes to housing growth and homelessness, councils face significant pressures when it comes to stock condition.
Following the Grenfell Tower disaster in 2017, and then the death of Awaab Ishak due to mould in 2020, the significance of the Regulator of Social Housing's (RSH) role with regard to local authorities has significantly expanded. This is in addition to the growing imperative to ensure the energy efficiency levels of existing housing stock are at acceptable levels, both for environmental reasons and to help shield their tenants from higher energy prices.
Earlier this year, the RSH published a set of standards focusing on neighbourhood, safety, transparency, influence, accountability and tenancy standards. In their annual report from earlier this year, the RSH stressed a number of key lessons for stockholding councils:
• They must meet all health and safety requirements to keep tenants safe (failing to meet the Home Standard).
• They must know the condition of the homes they manage
• They must handle complaints effectively
• They must engage effectively with their tenants
Indeed, 15 councils have already been issued with regulatory notices in recent months for a range of issues, including health and safety compliance, backlogs of repairs, overcharging of rent, and lack of information on tenant satisfaction. It seems certain that more will follow.
The RSH annual review also stressed the important role external assurance can play in addressing these challenges, which we are able to provide. Our experts support councils who face challenges in knowing how best to manage these various properties – such as deciding what the best future operating model for repairs and maintenance is likely to be (insourcing, outsourcing, or hybrid), deciding how best to prioritise their repairs and maintenance programmes, ensuring sufficient capacity and expertise around effective contract management, and understanding exactly what the new standards mean for them.
So what next?
To answer the question: is there a disconnect between central government and local government policies on housing? there is no disconnect; they are looking at the same challenges from different perspectives. For example, long-term solutions to the homelessness challenge can only be provided through a major increase in supply over a prolonged period.
Nevertheless, the challenges facing local government in housing are real – not just due to resource constraints, but because they must manage a far broader range of housing issues than housing supply. These challenges are often shorter term yet are nevertheless critical challenges in a society where homelessness, fuel poverty, and housing standards are all critically important.
As a key interface between local and central government, Local Partnerships' purpose is to support the public sector through the provision of expert advice and practical resources alongside project and programme delivery, enabling public services to thrive.
Email Martin.walker@localpartnerships.gov.uk for a discussion about how we can help your council achieve its goals and ambitions.
