HFi Today, 26.07.19
New Government, New Team, New Focus on Housing
He's a man at home in a hard hat and now he is Prime Minister, Boris Johnson.
Congratulations and best wishes to Boris and the new team.
LGA Conference Fringe
We would like to say a big thank you to all those who attended the LGA/HFI fringe event at the Local Government Association Conference.
We were delighted to hear from our HBR Springboard winners: Stoke-on-Trent City Council; Mid Suffolk District Council; and Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council. In addition, we heard from Darren Carter of Cheyne Capital and the Mayor of Lewisham, Damien Egan, with other attendees including Gareth Blacker from Homes England, Natalie Elphicke and Sir Steve Bullock.
The optimism and innovative ideas each council has is extraordinary. With a strong focus to build local homes that are right for each area, with affordability and quality key to that ambition.
Quality, Quantity or Affordability
The New Anglia LEP Housing Conference was held in July, organised in partnership with the HFi and Suffolk Growth. The Conference was an important step in further bringing together the public and private sector around the ambition to deliver 140,000 new homes across Norfolk and Suffolk by 2036.
A highlight of the day was an excellent panel discussion chaired by Pete Gladwell of Legal & General that included: Richard Bacon MP for South Norfolk, Ben Denton from Legal & General Homes and Paul Kitson from Homes England. The wide-ranging discussions looked at the role of partnering, challenges and changing aspirations in the housing and investment sector, together with the changing role of Homes England.
HFi Chief Executive Natalie Elphicke also spoke to the Conference about the housing sector's journey pre- and post-financial crash and the impact this has had on housebuilding and outcomes for owners and renters. Natalie spoke about the intergenerational divide in housing as well as expectations for the new government. Housebuilding has rebounded well since the financial crash but there are some early warning indicators of a potential slow down over the coming year. That may need further Government intervention in order to continue to stimulate the market and maintain higher housebuilding results.
