Housing associations told to make a joined-up case to HM Treasury

News13 Dec 2019Luke Cross

Social housing providers need to take a joined-up and “cross-cutting” approach if they want to have influence with HM Treasury, according to former government advisors

Gavin Barwell: “Sajid Javid is a passionate believer of building more homes” (picture: Alex Hererra)

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Social housing providers need to take a joined-up and “cross-cutting” approach if they want to have influence with HM Treasury, according to former government advisors #ukhousing #socialhousingfinance

Poppy Trowbridge, former special advisor to the chancellor of the exchequer, argued that the Treasury is the most important department for the sector to reach.

Speaking at last week’s Social Housing Annual Conference in London, Ms Trowbridge said the Treasury wants long-term, multi-staged, cautious and affordable solutions attached to any policy, adding that the most effective ones are those that are “cross-cutting” to other sectors, such as infrastructure.

She also advised the sector to aim high when asking for funding.

Gavin Barwell, former housing minister and chief of staff at Number 10, said he noticed frustration about how “dysfunctional government is”, and that there was a requirement to write a letter to ministers with policy proposals and wait for a written response – sometimes from several ministers and with opposing answers – before moving ahead.

He added: “You should be looking at the chancellor of the exchequer [Sajid Javid] as a key ally for your sector; he is a passionate believer of building more homes in this country.

“He will now be surrounded by Treasury officials who, generally speaking, believe the key answer to our housing crisis is planning reform – I think that is part of the answer, but not the only answer.”

“They have teams on a range of different areas, very highly specialised, but they are obsessive about their area. Once you get someone interested they then start to motivate the rest of the people there and cross-cut each other, and frankly they compete with each other for the chancellor’s time and for the special advisors’ time and to bring their agenda to the table.

“That’s why these issues have to be presented cohesively, because you spark a sense of desire to fix that complex problem. What doesn’t work is bringing things to government in silos because there is less of a sense of urgency.”

Asked how to encourage the department to take a long-term view, she added: “I think that’s the Treasury’s problem – they only take a long-term view and sometimes there are more pressing political and social issues.

“How do you get HMT to see the here and now and not focus on the end of the algorithm in 50 years?”

Mr Barwell also said that the sector should be looking to build its relationship with the secretary of state for housing, adding that Robert Jenrick had been “personally very interested in quality and not just quantity” and giving communities the ability to set their own design standards.

‘Building alliances’

The conference also heard from Matthew Bailes, chief executive of Paradigm and formerly of the Regulator of Social Housing and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. He said that the sector still needs to find a long-term, consistent narrative, adding that it lags behind other industries when it comes to getting its message out at the right time.

He argued that the commitments being made in the manifestos would suggest that the next Spending Review “will be brutal”.

Steve Douglas, chief executive of Altair and a former chief of the Housing Corporation, stressed the importance of building alliances, such as with the likes of the Local Government Association and Shelter.

Carol Matthews, chief executive of Riverside and chair of Homes for the North, also rejected the idea that it was possible to remove politics from housing.

“It’s all about politics; play the game,” she said.

Ms Matthews added that regional nuance is critical, with Homes for the North focused on the need for more homes and the renewal agenda in its own geography.

She also pointed out the importance of influencing over campaigning.

“Influencing gets you through the door – shouting means people want you at an arm’s distance.”