Latest news with #IanMcDermott
The Guardian
31-05-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Treat social housing as critical infrastructure to unlock billions, says Peabody boss
The head of one of the UK's biggest non-profit housing providers has called for social housing to be classed as 'critical national infrastructure', like roads and energy networks, allowing for billions of pounds in much needed extra investment. In an interview with the Guardian, the chair of housing association Peabody, Ian McDermott, said it should be reclassified by the Treasury to allow chancellor, Rachel Reeves, to commit extra funds without breaking her fiscal rules. His intervention comes as 11 of the country's major providers wrote in a letter to housing minister Matthew Pennycook ahead of next month's spending review that the government had inherited 'the worst housing situation in living memory'. The housing secretary, Angela Rayner, is said to be fighting for a larger settlement in the spending review, planned for 11 June, amid dissatisfaction over funding for affordable and social housing. McDermott warned that 90% of current spending on social housing was on subsidies and temporary accommodation, rather than bricks and mortar, the reverse of what had been the case in the 1970s. 'For too long, social housing has been seen as a subsidy and a cost rather than an asset and critical national infrastructure for the country,' he said. There are 14 areas of national life currently listed as critical infrastructure, including defence, data, energy, food, health and transport – but not housing. If housing was included, it would make it easier for spending on it to be excluded from normal fiscal rules, as it would be categorised as investment in infrastructure and would not count against government debt. The letter from London-based associations including L&Q, Peabody, Clarion Housing and Notting Hill Genesis said: 'It is important to be honest about the scale of the problems and the solutions needed. You have inherited the worst housing situation in living memory. There is a housing emergency, with London at the epicentre, and new supply in the capital has already fallen off a cliff.' It said that there were more households in London on a social housing waiting list than double the entire population of Cambridge. The temporary housing crisis and its effects on people's lives was 'almost impossible to articulate', the letter said, warning it was costing councils in London alone almost £4m a day. But it said changes to government rent policy since 2016 had taken almost £6.6bn out of the sector, which could have been invested in new and improved homes. 'By the end of the parliament affordable housing completions will have fallen to the lowest levels since the second world war without urgent and specific interventions for London,' it said. Shelter and National Housing Federation have suggested about 90,000 social homes a year would be needed to hit the government's manifesto target of 1.5m new homes, at a cost of about £11.8bn each year. But the investment is estimated to support almost 140,000 jobs and generate significantly higher economic output, breaking even within three years. McDermott, who takes over chairing the G15 group of London's leading housing associations from June, said the 1.5m homes target was 'very stretching' but the sector could play its part in achieving it. 'We own land that could potentially build 20,000 homes. Can we build it? Yes, we can. It is definitely possible. There is an issue about workforce and about skills. But can we bring about that generational change? Yeah, we can,' he said. 'But we need the government to be sympathetic and supportive of our asks.' McDermott said the economic case for investment in housing was 'unarguable'. Sign up to First Edition Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion 'The social case is unarguable. It's national infrastructure because if you look at what makes contented, thriving communities, at the core of those things is decent housing. And unless you recognise it as an essential element to a productive Britain and a thriving Britain and a contented Britain, then actually you're going to miss the point.' The housing ombudsman recently warned of a 'simmering anger at poor housing conditions' which he said could boil over into social tension, with a 474% increase in complaints about substandard living conditions since 2019/20. Richard Blakeway said it was 'neither fanciful nor alarmist' to suggest the growing anger at housing conditions could become 'social disquiet', saying the 'shock of Grenfell Tower and Awaab Ishak's death resonate still'. He said there had been a 'really serious fracturing of trust, which in some cases is irreparable,' with housing providers. McDermott said that he understood the anger and that the sector had to do better, but said it was wrong to say providers did not care. 'England has some of the oldest housing in Europe and the ombudsman is right to say that our not-for-profit sector is under intense pressure. Looking after residents' homes well is our top priority and needs to be funded through rental income,' he said. 'This is heavily regulated and was subject to government-imposed cuts for five out of seven years, which eroded our capacity to invest. As a sector, we're catching up but with inflation and the cost of living crisis it has been a perfect storm.' Ministers are facing increased pressure to unlock more funds for housing in the runup to next month's spending review. In a speech at an event in London on Saturday, Andy Burnham, the Labour mayor of Greater Manchester, was to call for a timetable by which time more new social homes were being built than sold off, calling housing 'the single biggest cause of Britain's modern malaise'. A spokesperson for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said: 'We've taken immediate action fix the housing crisis we've inherited and kickstart the biggest expansion to social and affordable housing in a generation. This included, they said, £800m for affordable homes, and changes to right to buy, with a proposal for a long-term rent deal for social home providers to provide certainty on income.
BBC News
13-05-2025
- Business
- BBC News
London housing: Drop in new affordable homes being built
The group representing the largest housing associations in London says there has been a 66% drop in new affordable homes being built in the last two a report, the G15 urges "swift action" in the face of a "deepening housing crisis".According to its findings, just 4,708 new home builds started in 2024–25, down from 13,744 two years earlier. Between January and March this year there was a 7% drop in new build starts, compared with the same period in Hall insisted it was working to "build a better, fairer London for everyone"; while the government said it was determined to "tackle the acute and entrenched housing crisis". According to the report, the number of homes completed also fell, with 9,200 homes handed over in 2024–25, down from the previous year's 10, needs to build 88,000 homes a year, at a cost of £2.2bnWe're treated like peasants, say tenants in fight over mouldy homesMother of four 'traumatised' by council flat mouldThe G15 says it has "consistently raised concerns" about the barriers to building new social and affordable homes, adding their new report "reinforces the scale of the challenge". The release of this report comes ahead of the government's spending review in June, where it will lay out its long term spending plans. Reacting to the findings, Ian McDermott, who is the vice chair of the G15 and chief executive of Peabody, called the current situation a "perfect storm". He said: "This is the most challenging environment we've ever worked in."Standards have changed since Grenfell, the cost of building has gone up and the shortage of labour is a real problem."Our ability to support and fund development has come down because we're spending more money on building safety and maintenance and management of homes." The G15 is calling for three measures to be adopted as part of the upcoming Spending Review, which it says would "empower the sector to accelerate delivery and support the government's housing ambitions":A 10-year rent settlement to provide long-term certainty for planning and investmentA rent convergence mechanism – to enable fair and sustainable rent levels across housing providersFull access to the Building Safety Fund for housing associations – ensuring parity with private sector landlords and supporting vital safety worksIt says these proposals would "remove key barriers currently stalling development and unlock the full potential of housing associations to meet demand". A spokesperson for the Mayor of London said Sir Sadiq Khan had "prioritised tackling the housing crisis" since taking office nine years ago."The Mayor recognises that affordable housing providers have been badly affected by under investment and policy uncertainty under the previous government," the spokesperson said."Last week he announced that he is exploring how parts of the green belt can be used for house building, as well as investigating different approaches to increase the number of small and medium sized building companies, who in decades past have been far more prominent in delivering London's new homes. "He is also working closely with the government and other partners on major programmes to boost housebuilding, including setting up the Mayor's Construction Academy which provides the training people need to get into the industry and grows the local talent pool for employers." 'Pattern of stagnation' The G15 says the decline in building new, affordable homes is part of a "wider pattern of stagnation in housing delivery". The group argues it follows "years of underinvestment, policy, instability and inflationary pressures".In addition to the need for new homes, London's housing stock is ageing. Recent research by Centre for London revealed a third of Londoners have experienced damp and mould and over a quarter were unable to keep their homes warm. The G15 added this is "compounding the issue" as "billions have had to be diverted into refurbishing ageing homes". A Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government spokesperson said: "We are also investing in more affordable homes with an £800 million top up to the Affordable Homes Programme and a £2 billion down payment on further funding, alongside work to unlock housing in the capital and overhaul the broken planning system."
Sky News
31-03-2025
- General
- Sky News
At least 91,000 new affordable homes could be built with cladding money, social housing providers say
Social housing providers are warning their ability to build new affordable and social rent homes is plummeting, thanks to the soaring costs of the post-Grenfell Tower cladding crisis. Some 72 people were killed in the 2017 tragedy, but eight years on, as many as 12,000 buildings are thought to be wrapped in the kinds of flammable materials that led to it. Work hasn't even begun on half of the affected buildings, with an estimated 7,000 at-risk blocks not yet identified by the government. It's thought the bill to remove those products across the country will run to the tens of billions. But Housing Associations - not-for-profit organisations who provide social rented housing - are excluded from most government funding. Instead the money for much of their remediation is coming from social tenants' rent and being diverted from other projects. The National Audit Office thinks it will have to spend £3.8bn in total to remove non-ACM, combustible cladding on buildings over 11m high. New research suggests that's the cost-equivalent of building 91,000 much-needed new affordable homes. It's as we're seeing a huge drop in the number of new social rent and affordable homes being built by these providers. Across England, the National Housing Federation (NHF) says affordable housing starts have decreased by 39% to 43,439 - the lowest number since 2016. In London affordable housing starts have collapsed by 90% in the year to March, compared to the year before. The housing association Peabody says they have already spent £300m on cladding remediation, and that bill will keep rising. At one of their sprawling development sites in east London, tower blocks spring from the ground. But only phase one of the 10-year project (905 new homes) is secure. Plans for the other 2,500 flats have been put at risk - precisely because of funds being diverted to building safety. "If we don't if we don't find a way of funding the future phases, then I'm afraid we would have to stop at the end of phase one," their chief executive Ian McDermott said. The numbers are stark: "Normally we build about 2,000 homes a year. This year we will build fewer than 100 homes. "It's at a time when one in 21 children in London are living in temporary accommodation, so the need for social housing has never been greater." The data seems to pour cold water on the government's pledge to build 1.5 million new homes by the end of this parliament. "The numbers are going in the wrong direction," said Rhys Moore, executive director of the NHF. "I think it is now widely accepted that there is no way to meet the 1.5 million homes target without a significant increase in social and affordable house building." Earlier this month, a committee of MPs warned the government hadn't taken the risks seriously enough and called for a formal assessment to be published by the end of the year on the way remediation costs are impacting house building targets. Mr Moore is calling on the government to expand the Building Safety Scheme to include housing associations: "What we think is indefensible is that some of the poorest families in the country, social tenants, are having to pick up the costs with their rents, to make those buildings safe." Giles Grover, from End Our Cladding Scandal, agrees with that call: "Our campaign position has always been that social housing providers should have full and equal access to the funding." But unlike the housing associations and NHF, he's concerned about too much of their focus being on development. Throughout the cladding crisis some housing associations have faced criticism for their handling of building safety issues, particularly with regard to shared owners. Mr Grover said: "We do need to make sure that social housing providers focus on their core purpose, which is making those homes decent, making those homes safe, and actually treating people like vulnerable, shared owners with a lot more respect." If there's a safety issue, he said, "let shared owners sublet, let them sell - or buy back their flats. Because right now associations are just carrying on, wanting to be tinpot developers". A Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government spokesperson said: "We are determined to make Britain's homes safer and deliver change for residents who have suffered for too long, and it is right that developers pay their fair share. "This government will deliver 1.5 million homes as part of our Plan for Change and just this week we committed £2bn to deliver thousands of new social and affordable homes. We continue to work closely with industry so we can deliver on our housing ambitions."
