Speaking at the National Housing Federation (NHF) summit in September 2018, Theresa May announced a £2bn investment in housing associations, to take effect over the next ten years. This, she cited, will be one of the key ways to ease the housing crisis and ensure more local authority homes can be built.
The PM promised long-term funding for housing associations, asking in return that councils and social landlords take more initiative when building large-scale developments.
The money will create new social and affordable housing over the next decade and is intended to ease long-term construction costs, getting social housing back on the agenda. May pointed out that too many politicians “look down” on social housing, but it’s time for that to change.
Our take on the PM’s £2bn investment
Here at metroSTOR, we were heartened to hear that the PM will allocate more funding for social housing. We firmly believe that all residents should be able to live safely and securely in affordable homes, regardless of tenure. Our Sales Director, Nigel Deacon, airs his own views on the topic:
“I believe that the PM’s speech promising £2bn long-term funding for building new social housing marks a very significant turning point for our country.”
The UK housing crisis is no secret, and emerging generations will be most affected unless we act now. Nigel Deacon thinks the increased involvement of housing associations will make a massive difference to the future supply of homes in Britain.
“I have thought for a long time that it would need the empowerment of Housing Associations to truly resolve the housing crisis, so I was particularly heartened to hear her say that she wanted to see them taking on and leading major developments themselves,” he says.
“Social landlords exist for the benefit of the communities they serve and are uniquely placed to deliver developments that are rooted in a conception of the public good rather than in a simple profit motive, creating genuinely mixed communities with the right infrastructure and truly affordable housing.”
“The PM also suggested that the social housing stigma could be addressed by ensuring that the homes do not look inferior; we all know that this is challenging even when planning new developments, so I was particularly pleased that she touched on the management of existing housing stock, where the challenges are even greater.”
Social housing: external storage is part of the solution
Nigel Deacon thinks investing in further storage for housing association properties will be part of the solution:
“I have worked with many social landlords who have found that investing in environmental improvements, and particularly those that address ASB hot-spots like bin storage areas, go a long way towards driving behaviour change and helping restore residents’ pride in their neighbourhoods.”
At metroSTOR, we are committed to improving the lives of social housing residents. We strongly believe that our external bin areas and weather-proof storage units will contribute to the safety, security and pride of housing association tenants. For more information, view our products or contact us on 08450 750760.
