Housing associations have a clear mandate to deliver affordable homes – communities must be at the heart

What communities want

Two-thirds (69 per cent) of people say that local communities should have a greater say over the housing built in their area, and the role that housing associations will play isn’t lost on them. This comes from our poll of 2,000 UK adults to understand how they perceive the social housing sector and the role it plays shaping communities. 

We found that over half (54 per cent) of people agree that housing associations currently perform a vital role in their community, compared to only 10 per cent that don’t, and this figure rises to almost 60 per cent among social and affordable renters and to 56 per cent among key workers. 

Affordable housing provision is naturally a key concern – 64 per cent of respondents said that there isn’t enough affordable housing available in their area. Respondents said that they would like to see more affordable homes covering a range of tenures, including affordable rent (47 per cent), homes to buy (30 per cent), social rent (25 per cent) and affordable ownership schemes such as shared ownership (23 per cent). 

Interestingly, we also saw that demand for shared ownership significantly increased when the scheme was explained in more detail, with 60 per cent of them saying there should be more shared ownership homes available in their area. That rises to 69 per cent among key workers, such as teachers, carers and NHS staff. 

This data tells us that communities both recognise the need for a variety of affordable housing solutions in their area and see housing associations as one of the key vehicles for delivering it. That’s an expectation our sector and the government must work together to meet if we’re to collectively deliver the ‘social housing revolution’ promised by the new housebuilding plans.

Embracing community engagement

To that end, there is already a mechanism available through which communities can not only have a more active role in housing, but actually lead and own development projects in their area – community land trusts (CLTs). 

We’ve long been a proponent of CLTs becoming a more widely used method for affordable housing delivery. And it seems communities agree. Two-thirds (67 per cent) of those we surveyed were in favour of more CLT homes being built, with two-fifths (39 per cent) interested in helping to establish and run a CLT in their area. 

We’re one of the most active CLT developers in the UK, with 13 completed to date and seven such projects due to start over the next year. We’ve seen first-hand just how effective they can be in freeing up pockets of land that are too small for large-scale developers and ensuring homes suit local need. 

They give local people ultimate control in the housing and amenities that are introduced for them, as well as how the environment and their community culture can be protected and enhanced, not diminished by development.

Delivering variety, not just volume

Ensuring we build a diverse range of housing to meet different needs was a clear finding of our survey. The government is right to shine a brighter spotlight on social and affordable homes, but no single type of housing is going to solve the crisis. 

We see day in, day out that shared ownership plays a vital role in the mix, too. Some 250,000 households, 4,000 of whom are Aster customers, have benefitted from the security and opportunity of ownership this tenure provides.

There are thousands more people who are in a similar situation – desperate to get on the ladder but unable to afford a traditional mortgage – and whom shared ownership can help, too.

Successfully addressing the housing crisis means the government and the industry using every option available to us, and communities need to have a say in what form that takes. 

As work starts in earnest following parliament’s summer break, housing associations will be vital collaborators in the journey to tackling the crisis, bridging the gap between government and communities by turning those targets into new much-needed homes.

Amanda Williams, chief investment officer, Aster Group