Building the Future of the North is our new offer to government to work together over the next ten years to transform communities and enable thousands more northerners to live in good quality homes.
Patrick Murray, NHC Executive of Policy and Public Affairs explains more about the offer and his hopes for the future – both long and short term.
Why is the 2024 general election crucial for housing in the North?
We desperately need a long-term plan for housing. For decades, and under successive Governments, the country has failed to deal with the housing challenges we face, whether it’s a shortage of genuinely affordable good quality homes, or the significant number of older, colder homes in the North, or communities that have been overlooked by Governments wedded to a London-dominant economic model. Given that a good, stable, affordable home in a great community underpins good health, employment and educational opportunities, and ultimately a good life, we can’t afford to continue like this.
The Government might well change hands for what would be only the third time during my lifetime, and certainly the first time where housing is being featured in the campaign. The challenges are enormous, and there is a lot of work to do to get the next administration – whoever it is – to understand how those challenges play out in different parts of the country, especially the diversity of markets and communities we have across the North.
But there is a real opportunity here, and much to build on with the great work the sector already does and the progress made in devolution to Mayoral Combined Authorities over recent years. I’ve been in local and central Government and I know that you just can’t fix something this complex and interconnected on the ground from a distant, silo-ed Whitehall.
If you were in a lift with the next housing minister, how would you pitch NHC’s Building the Future of the North offer?
We can help you deliver real change on your priorities across the North. There is so much potential to make a real difference to people’s lives and communities across the North. Whether that’s building up to 320,000 homes across brownfield land, or creating 77,000 great new green jobs across the North and helping meet Net Zero, or making sure everyone has a decent home across social and private rented sectors, we are your partners to deliver.
So, work with us. Provide us the long-term certainty, unleash the power of devolution to deliver across the diversity of markets in the North, and have a sensible conversation about what’s needed to tackle so many challenges within the resources available, and let’s build that real partnership. Do that and we’ll push everything we can to deliver your priorities.
What changes do you want to see over the next ten years?
Building the Future for the North sets out what we think that long-term plan for housing needs to look like in the North. There’s some tweaks we can make quickly to make existing funding go further, such as changing the rules on how we use affordable housing grant for regeneration schemes, or embedding and building on positive changes to how value for money is measured across Government funding programmes.
But the big stuff needs that long-term approach. A £4.2bn investment over ten years for Combined Authorities will unlock land for up to 320,000 homes on brownfield land. Long-term certainty over affordable housing grant and rents, and funding for Net Zero will unlock our ability to plan effectively, achieve efficiencies, line up supply chains, work with training providers to create new jobs, and ultimately deliver what’s needed.
We also desperately just need to rebuild capacity in local authorities. We heard from residents in our Pride in Place work how important basic services are in underpinning flourishing communities. We know that planning capacity has been disproportionately hit in the North. And we can’t tackle poor standards in the private rented sector without investing in enforcement. So, a sustainable funding settlement for local Government and some targeted pots will go a long way.
And devolution absolutely needs to be at the heart of this. There’s so much potential to achieve a real step change by joining things up across places. There is real ambition and momentum around Mayoral Combined Authorities that we can unleash by working in partnership.
And what are your hopes for housing in the north over the next 50 years?
That the housing crisis is a distant memory. That we’ve finally escaped the already broken, over-centralised economic model that has held productivity back in this country for too long. That all places across the North have been able to unleash their full potential, with everyone getting a fair start and fair chance, and with real opportunities to build a good life in flourishing communities, no matter where you live.
Our Chief Executive Tracy Harrison, was part of a Q&A panel at the North East Youth Symposium. She listened to the views of young people and shared insight about the social housing sector and its role in creating positive change for the future.
