Housing and Planning Minister Addresses Key Issues at the Housing Community Summit

Thank you for that kind introduction, Kirsty, and good morning to all.

It is an honour to participate in this year’s Housing Community Summit, and I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to the National Housing Federation and the Chartered Institute of Housing for their invitation.

Returning to Liverpool is a genuine pleasure – a city region boasting an ambitious regeneration agenda and a steadfast commitment to enhancing the availability of social and affordable housing. I commend Steve Rotherham and Liam Robinson for their unwavering leadership in this vital area.

Current Challenges Facing the Housing Sector

Our housing market demonstrates remarkable resilience, and I am confident it will recover swiftly. However, as this audience is acutely aware, we are currently facing significant challenges in housebuilding across England.

Profit margins are being squeezed by a multitude of factors, including a notable decline in interest cover and a substantial rise in the cost of building materials, exacerbated by the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

These viability challenges are affecting regions nationwide, with some housing markets experiencing particularly intense pressures.

As councils and housing associations strive to implement their ambitious development plans, they must contend not only with issues related to site viability but also with the urgent need to enhance the safety and quality of the homes already under their management.

The government is placing considerable demands on the sector, and we fully understand the delicate balance required to build new social and affordable housing at scale while simultaneously improving the conditions of existing properties.

Throughout the 26 months of this government’s tenure, we have endeavoured to collaborate closely with you, listening intently to your needs and striving to meet your requests to the best of our ability.

Progress Made and Future Aspirations

Today, I aim to highlight the substantial progress we have made since taking office just over two years ago, while also emphasising that much remains to be accomplished in the years ahead to ensure that councils and housing associations can thrive and play a pivotal role in the decade of social and affordable housing renewal that this government is committed to achieving.

It is a natural tendency to take for granted what we already have and to seek more, but I would like to take a moment to reflect on the significant strides we have made over the past two years and two months.

It is almost three years since I delivered a keynote address at the NHF’s National Housing Summit in Birmingham as the then Shadow Housing and Planning Minister. I recall the prevailing atmosphere of polite scepticism that accompanied my speech, which included a series of ambitious commitments:

• Enhancing compulsory purchase powers.
• Providing long-term rent policy certainty.
• Reforming the Right to Buy scheme to better protect existing social housing stock.
• Increasing affordable housing supply.
• Prioritising social rented homes.

As you are all aware, we have not only fulfilled these promises but have also gone much further.

Investment and Funding for Social Housing

In terms of grant funding, we have made the largest investment in social and affordable housing in living memory – a £39 billion, 10-year Social and Affordable Homes Programme, aiming to deliver at least 60% of homes as Social Rent. I am pleased to report that we are on track to exceed this target in the first wave of allocations announced a fortnight ago.

In our efforts to restore the sector’s capacity to borrow and invest in both new and existing homes, we have secured a 10-year social housing rent settlement at CPI+1%, established Social Rent convergence, ensured equal access to government remediation funding schemes for social landlords, and allocated £2.5 billion in low-interest loans throughout this Spending Review period.

To revitalise council housebuilding, we have reinstated Right to Buy maximum cash discounts to pre-2012 levels and allowed councils to retain 100% of Right to Buy receipts. Additionally, our Social Housing Bill is advancing a comprehensive reform package for Right to Buy, empowering councils to confidently increase the delivery of new homes.

Commitment to Quality and Safety

In terms of providing regulatory clarity, we have updated the Decent Homes Standard, introduced new Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards, and implemented Awaab’s Law, ensuring that our standards are both ambitious and proportionate, with timelines that enable social landlords to enhance housing supply while improving the quality of homes they manage.

Collectively, these measures have established a solid foundation for the decade of social and affordable housing renewal we are determined to realise.

While reflecting on these advancements, it is crucial to recognise that the outlook for the sector has been dramatically transformed over the past 26 months due to the decisions made by this government.

Acknowledging Continued Needs in the Sector

Despite the achievements, I fully acknowledge that councils and housing associations across the nation are seeking and require additional support and funding to provide the high-quality homes and services that residents and communities need.

I also understand that we called upon everyone involved in social and affordable housing to step up and demonstrate their capacity to deliver at scale and pace. However, due to the overwhelming positive response, we have been unable to meet every request.

This is particularly evident in the context of our Social and Affordable Homes Programme. Recently, we confirmed that Homes England is allocating over £9.5 billion to 33 Strategic Partners to deliver more than 70,000 social and affordable homes outside London, with the Greater London Authority expected to allocate at least £6 billion within the capital.

Regrettably, the total amount of bids submitted to Homes England and the GLA far exceeded the available funding in this initial wave. However, with £39 billion allocated over the duration of the Programme, there remains over £16 billion available outside London and approximately £5 billion in London yet to be allocated.

Future Opportunities for Collaboration

This funding, which is available throughout each year of this Spending Review period up to 2030, includes significant allocations for the latter half of the Programme. In distributing these funds, we have prioritised social rented homes, particularly council homes, while also ensuring that funding is accessible for other providers.

With this in mind, I reiterate our invitation to partners to submit strong bids for specific sites, and Homes England is prepared to collaborate closely with you to explore all possible options.

In light of the new emphasis placed on council housebuilding by our Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, I would like to elaborate on its importance. Direct council delivery of Social Rent homes offers numerous benefits, including democratic accountability, the ability to tailor services to meet local housing needs, and the creation of public assets that generate rental income for reinvestment into local housing and community support.

Revitalising Council Housing Initiatives

Historically, councils were the driving force behind the construction of social housing on the necessary scale, delivering tens of thousands of homes annually until building rates plummeted in the early 1980s due to the restrictions imposed by the Right to Buy scheme. This is why we are resolutely committed to empowering councils to build at scale once more, and we are aware that many of them share our ambition to secure the future of council housing.

The initiatives we have undertaken since taking office to rejuvenate council housebuilding, including substantial funding to enhance skills and capabilities within councils, are already yielding results. In 2024/25, councils achieved the highest number of social homes constructed since the early 1990s.

Moreover, I am thrilled to announce that, for the first time, three councils outside London have been granted Strategic Partnership status with Homes England: Cambridge City Council, Eastleigh Borough Council, and Newcastle City Council.

Future Directions for Housing Associations

However, we must go even further. The Prime Minister, the Secretary of State, and I are committed to establishing the most extensive council housebuilding programme since the post-war boom concluded in the early 1980s. To achieve this, we are actively exploring additional ways to support councils in expanding their stock of social homes, including low-cost borrowing options, and we will ensure that councils can access a greater share of the funding available through our Social and Affordable Homes Programme.

Many housing associations and other providers may be contemplating what this renewed focus on council housebuilding signifies for them. Let me reassure all stakeholders that private registered providers will continue to play a vital role in delivering social and affordable homes.

We greatly value your contributions towards meeting housing needs and are counting on you to advance ambitious development plans, both through grant-funded homes and maximising homes built via Section 106 agreements, utilising the recently published National S106 Affordable Housing Engagement Guidance developed collaboratively by the NHF, CIH, HBF, and the LGA.

Encouraging Collaborative Efforts

For any housing association or provider concerned about their future in a landscape where councils are once again building at scale, I wish to clarify that the revival of council housebuilding, which this government is striving to achieve, should complement rather than undermine your contributions.

Indeed, we aim to foster greater collaborative efforts between councils and housing associations, whether through forming joint ventures, aligning development plans, delivering new council homes through partnership models, or enhancing cooperation on