We Move the Dial on Northern Policy

NHC Executive Director (Policy and External Relations) Patrick Murray explains more about this corporate plan objective, including how we represent members, and the approach we take to working with the Government. He looks at how we’ve been moving the dial over the past nine months and the momentous political change we’re seen as a result.

The Spending Review – and the announcements that followed were transformative for the social housing sector and the North. We saw a raft of changes – the £39 billion Social and Affordable Homes Programme with flexibility to use funding for regeneration and around methods of calculating net additionality.  The £16bn National Housing Bank that will mean work can start on sites that would previously have been financially unviable. Alongside this, the £5bn Housing Delivery Fund will support development on more complex brownfield sites – a key priority for the North given that our research has found there is capacity for 320,000 new homes on brownfield land. The 13.2 billion Warms Homes Plan, which was added to at the Autumn Budget will help northern social housing providers continue to improve older, colder homes. The North is leading the way with devolution and Mayors are gaining increasing local control though integrated settlements This backed up with more flexible funding rules reflects the reality that “one size fits all” simply doesn’t work for the North. And let’s not forget the 10 year rent settlement, longer term funding programmes and the consultation on rent convergence.

These were all things the NHC called for in our Spending Review submission, to enable social housing providers to deliver for their communities. We were also pleased to see after the spending review that the Government committed £5bn to the new Pride in Place programme, directly addressing many of the issues raised in our Pride in Place research. This is a clear example of how our influencing work is making a tangible difference.

Some of the changes were achieved collaboratively by the whole social housing sector speaking with one voice on issues such as housing supply and longer-term funding to a government who were willing to listen. Other changes, such as reviewing funding rules which were disadvantaging the North, were more niche arguments that we put forward powerfully.

So, what’s our strategy to bring about change and how do we prioritise the issues we campaign on?

Before joining the NHC I was a civil servant at Homes England, so I’ have direct experience of how policy is formulated. The NHC takes a twin track approach – working with politicians to shape ambition, and Government officials to shape implementation. Politicians want to know how they can fulfil manifesto pledges and deliver for voters in their constituency. It’s our role to show them how the social housing sector can support them to deliver their ambitions while inspiring them to go further with policies which will have a positive impact in the North. Civil servants are looking for the best way to implement policy and need evidence to back up their decisions, which is where our research and real-life examples from members comes into play.

In our member’s perceptions survey you told us that we should not spread ourselves too thinly and to focus on the issues that matter most. Soon after starting at the NHC, I created a Venn diagram which shows how we decide on our policy priorities. Policy areas that matter most to our members and have the greatest impact on the North, and areas where we can achieve meaningful change, will be prioritised.

Our biggest policy priority over the next year will be regeneration because in many areas of the North, housing-led regeneration is needed alongside delivering new homes to drive real change for, and with, local communities.  Renew, our new inquiry, led by the NHC and supported by Homes for the North and Muse, will explore how housing-led regeneration can deliver growth, help tackle the housing crisis, and strengthen communities across the North. We want to work together to make sure no one and nowhere is left behind.

Alongside this we will continue to support members to provide good quality homes. This will include working with government to make sure policy, regulation and funding supports improvement of existing homes in the social and private rented sector. We will continue to engage with the Government about the new Decent Homes Standard and Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards.

We will make a strong case for more funding and decision-making power to be devolved to the appropriate level so that local areas have more control over the outcomes that matter to them. We’ll also support members in a practical way by supporting Housing Partnerships and bringing them together to create a strong united voice.

Warmer Homes have been a longstanding priority for the NHC to address the North’s older, colder homes, and this will continue. To ensure we meet current challenges, later in the corporate plan period, we plan to work with members to look at approaches to making sure communities are better prepared to face any adverse impacts of climate change.

The first nine months nine months of ‘moving the dial’ have been a success and we’re seen meaningful change. However, this is not the time to rest on our laurels. We must maintain momentum and work with Government to make sure funding, and regulation supports members to deliver warm safe and affordable homes across the North.