RESI: clear vision on housing needed

Housing supply and home ownership remain key priorities for the government and the housing sector as we strive to deliver homes that meet need and aspiration.

A renewed government commitment is essential and will put confidence into the housing market to enable the provision of homes, but this must be across a range of tenures that includes home ownership and rental products at both market and submarket rates.

If we are serious about creating places that are fit for the future, then our approach to building homes needs to ‘start local’ by ensuring housing providers are building communities where people can afford to live and work - this requires local plans and affordable homes.

The devolution agenda enables combined authorities to develop local plans to meet need and aspiration. Housebuilders and developing housing associations such as Orbit Group have a central role in bringing these plans to fruition through partnerships and ventures.

Hear Paul Tennant OBE speak about Innovation and Creativity in the Delivery of Affordable Housing at RESI 2016 next week

In the West Midlands, we have seen housing associations come together to provide a single voice to help the West Midlands Combined Authority deliver on its social and economic aims.

To provide this range of homes, we need a flexible grant system that allows us to provide housing options that people want and can afford through local plans, including affordable homes. This flexibility of grant should recognise the long-term investment that housing associations make in building sustainable communities.

Through regeneration schemes, such as Orbit Group’s Erith Park scheme in London, we are able to make development viable through our long-term vision and by working with partners to overcome challenges.

The Autumn Statement can pave the way for this to stimulate the market and ensure we are providing quality homes that people can afford.

Paul Tennant OBE, CEO, Orbit Group