The Spending Review is an opportunity for housing and the North

Our recent state of the region report, the Northern Housing Monitor, highlighted just how urgent the need for investment in social housing is in the North.

Housing waiting lists are rising rapidly, and already nearly half a million households are waiting for an affordable home. Increasing numbers of people are forced into temporary accommodation, including 14,000 children. Nearly a quarter (23 per cent) of the Northern population, 3.6 million people, are pushed into poverty after housing costs. Higher than average levels of non-decent homes also plague the North, with around one in four private rented homes failing to meet the Decent Homes Standard.

While there are big challenges, there are also unique opportunities to put things right. Here in the North, we are leading the way with devolution.

Established mayoral combined authorities open the opportunity to go further and faster with devolved funding, so investment can be joined up and targeted where it can have the greatest impact on growth and local priorities.

The NHC is working closely with housing partnerships across the North, and we are seeing big benefits.

Housing providers are working together more closely than ever on priorities including development and retrofit pipelines, and there’s also increased collaboration and partnerships with other sectors.

Both the availability and cost of land in the North provide opportunities for building new homes. We have identified that there’s capacity for 320,000 homes on the North’s brownfield land.

Land values in the North are lower, which is largely positive, but can be a challenge when it comes to scheme viability and accessing government funding for housebuilding, regeneration and brownfield redevelopment.

A devolved, long-term fund of £4.2bn will unlock the North’s brownfield land, but we also need the government to expand the way it measures economic and social value, to make sure projects can come forward.

The North also has a strong record of housing delivery.

While, on paper, the new National Planning Policy Framework targets look like a 52 per cent jump, across the North, delivery has exceeded previous targets, meaning we actually need a 27 per cent increase against recent delivery to hit our targets.

A new 10-year AHP is the most direct lever government has to drive development of new homes, especially new social housing. 

To bring maximum benefits to the North, this must embed the recently introduced flexibility to support housing-led regeneration schemes. This is so that outdated homes that are not fit for purpose can be replaced by new homes that meet the needs of people and communities. This will unlock more delivery, as providers don’t have to choose between using finite resources to deal with ageing stock that is coming to the end of its life and building new homes.

Greater strategic influence for mayoral combined authorities over funding would help get the right homes built in the right places.

And if we want local authorities to play a significant role, they must be supported so they are set up to build new council homes.

But it can’t all be about supply. To solve the myriad housing crises we have, especially in the North, we must also look at the quality of existing homes and places.

Investment in new homes should sit alongside a new place-based dedicated funding stream of at least £1.37bn over five years to support housing-led regeneration in the North, matching the ambitions of the last Labour government. We saw how, through the Housing Market Renewal initiative, places were transformed and lives changed, with benefits across health, employment and the economy.

If we can join up new funding for regeneration with devolved long-term funding for decarbonisation and quality improvements at a place-based level, alongside a new Decent Homes Standard, we can revive our ageing housing stock and unlock the potential in our communities.

The Northern Housing Monitor painted a picture of the different housing crises across the North. The Spending Review is the opportunity to fix this.

The sector can deliver – but it needs the right partnership with the government, based on providing long-term funding for new and existing homes and places, devolved to the right level to maximise the benefits of investment.

With that in place, we can make sure everyone in the North has a safe, warm home that’s affordable for them, in a place they’re proud to live.

Tracy Harrison, chief executive, Northern Housing Consortium