Housing has featured prominently in the first few weeks of the country’s new government, and with a sector in need of urgent support, it’s music to housing leaders’ ears. Already, however, there are signs that the sector’s key messages are being diluted. This is a trap that housing lobbyists have previously fallen into and must avoid this time around. Here’s where we are now and how to avoid repeating past mistakes.
Solid start
Soon after the election results, on 8 July, Rachel Reeves’ speech on reintroducing mandatory housing targets and overhauling the planning system to help deliver 1.5m homes in England over the next five years, was well received.
This was followed by the King’s Speech on 17 July, with a growth narrative outlining four Bills relevant to the housing sector. These included getting Britain building through planning reform, the English Devolution Bill giving new powers to combined authorities, and legislation to give people greater rights in their homes and end Section 21 eviction notices.
A strong sector voice
In the run up to the general election, two of the main housing bodies, the National Housing Federation and Chartered Institute of Housing, were effective in ensuring that the housing sector had a voice that was heard, with many of our clients getting involved in promoting and supporting the NHF’s Plan for Housing campaign.
This momentum has continued post-election with the sector’s letter on 11 July from the NHF, CIH and largest English council landlords. The letter to Angela Rayner outlined the support that the sector would need to be able to deliver Labour’s housing targets, including removing red tape on existing funding, and urgent action to restart stalled building projects. The NHF has also published a three-step Social Housing Renewal Plan outlining what the social housing sector can do with the right funding and support.
What is key now is sticking to this shared sector script.
Keeping up momentum
The tight messaging developed by the key housing bodies and leaders is essential to moving things forward at pace, but we can already see signs of it fragmenting with varied demands on limited funding and regional priorities diluting the key asks of the sector as a whole.
In the past it has been relatively straightforward for Treasury officials and ministers to knock back housing sector asks as they say the plethora of calls make it almost impossible to know which policies will be most beneficial. As a result, this has often meant the status quo, or worse, the dramatic cuts of the austerity years from 2010 and the introduction of the Affordable Rent cross-subsidy model.
To avoid the mistakes of the past, housing sector leaders should stick to the script set out by the NHF and CIH. It contains clear, simple offers and asks of a new government who appear open to listening and working with us.
By speaking with one voice, we are more likely to be heard and will be much harder to ignore.
Stuart Macdonald is Managing Director and Stacey Cooper is a Copywriter at See Media
To discuss this article or how we can support you, email hello@seemedia.co.uk
