Spending review is always an interesting time, especially for a housing association that undertakes market sale, has an investor-backed build-to-rent subsidiary, a big shared-ownership programme and subsidised rent. Do I laugh or do I cry?
Who wins and who loses? In the end, there were tears of joy and sadness.
We knew this would be a Budget for homeowners, and true to form, I cannot recall another time when people earning up to £90,000 got such a subsidised hand-out. With Help to Buy, Right to Buy, shared ownership and starter homes, there are enough initiatives to stoke demand for a good five years. With £2.3bn going to starter homes, the grant of £38,000 a home is generous indeed for the 60,000 people who get on this ladder. But once the money is paid, it is lost. No other person gains from this subsidy.
The boost to shared ownership is welcome news. The subsidy is constantly recycled and the scheme allows those on average incomes to become homeowners, selling the property or buying more shares when they can afford it. The more homes that are built, the better the secondary market, allowing more movement. Lifting some of the restrictions on who can buy them and build them is something we have been advocating for some time, and is good news for this tenure. When more homes are needed, it shouldn’t matter who builds them - they need building. Putting limitations on who can buy them depending on where they live does not respond to the market and mobility. Hooray for shared ownership.
I am pleased the chancellor has backed housebuilding and the changes to release public land, brownfield and areas of the green belt are fantastic news.
The industry needs to keep building to ensure we develop the skills we previously lost. We are at a critical point here and hopefully smaller housebuilders can get back in the game.
The losers in all of the announcements are the renters. If you put that £38,000 in an affordable rented home and topped it up with another £15,000, you have a home for life. A home that passes from one person or family to another, and helps the lowest-paid and the most vulnerable with stability. That subsidy keeps rents down, keeps people healthy, allows families to settle in an area and kids to do well at school.
On build-to-rent, there was nothing in the Budget for us. We will continue to compete for sites with market and submarket sale, and work with local authorities that understand the need for good-quality, professionally rented homes.
So, there was a lost opportunity to help those who have to rent, whose incomes will never allow them to buy and where marginal home ownership is dangerous. Let’s create a housebuilding revolution, but let’s ensure it benefits everyone, across generations and not just the chosen few.
Geeta Nanda is group chief executive at Thames Valley Housing association
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