Thank you

I’ve been in this role as Shadow Housing Minister for eight months now

My time in this role has seen one of the most turbulent periods in housing policy for decades.

Old certainties no longer hold

The seemingly permanent foundations on which we based our thinking and our policies to meet housing need have been shaken to their core

In one of the first speeches I gave as Shadow Housing Minister I said that all the cards had been thrown up in the air

And we are still no nearer to understanding how they will fall.

We simply cannot know the environment that Labour will face in 2014 as we start to prepare our policies for the 2015 General Election.

And there is a real risk of developing policies now which are outdated by the time we might be in a position to implement them.

However, we do need to lend some shape to our thinking and the Policy Review Caroline Flint and I are currently undertaking is the starting point for that process

With some clear milestones along the way.

I do find it a little hypocritical of this Government to accuse us of having no policies because I don’t remember them coming up with their proposals until shortly before the election –

Indeed they are making announcements months after being elected –

Policies on which the electorate had no opportunity to vote or express a view.

Indeed, if we take the government’s policy on security of tenure then we have both parties in the Tory government pushing through changes to social housing

Which they either opposed or denied wanting to do before the last election.

We are in what can only be, generously, described as a very fluid situation –

No-one appears able to see any clear trends emerging in the various parts of the sector .

The sunny rhetoric that the government trots out on housing supply or social housing is yet to be supported by independent analysis of where their policies will take us.

Some of the early indicators are enough to give cause for concern.

But there are some assumptions that we can draw from the Tory-led government’s direction of travel.

First I want to go back to the situation that they inherited from Labour

There are three numbers that I want you to remember: I may test you later!

Two hundred and seven thousand - 207,000

Two hundred and fifty six thousand - 256,000

One hundred and forty two thousand 142,000

The serious point is that these are delivery figures from Labour’s last five years in office – two-fifths of which were hit by the credit crunch, the global banking crisis and the recession.

Two hundred and seven thousand: the number of new dwellings delivered in England in 2007, the last year before the global banking crisis hit.

Two hundred and fifty six thousand: the number of additional affordable new homes delivered in England in the last Parliament.

Over 100,000 more than the Tory-led government is hoping to deliver over the course of this parliament.

One hundred and forty-two thousand: the number of additional homes for social rent delivered in the last Parliament.

Over one hundred thousand more than the Tory-led government will provide now that the HCA will only support new ‘social rent’ developments in what they are calling:

And many existing socially rented homes will be reclassified as they are relet, moving from social rent to the 80% of market level.

207,000

256,000

142,000

Those are not insignificant figures

And the contrast is stark

Those are new homes, delivered in partnership between central government, local government, housing associations & private developers.

Affordable, sustainable homes which people are now living in

Which families can call their own

We

And we

Will this Tory government build the 207,000 extra dwellings in England that we achieved in 2007 in any year of this parliament?

It doesn’t look like it at the moment.

That is not to say that Labour had it all right on housing –

But the time for Mea Culpas is over

My job as Labour’s Shadow Housing Minister is not to forever be looking back

But to be moving forward –

Forward and beyond the growing housing crisis using all the expertise out there as we develop policies for the 2020s

I know that, together, we can build the houses we need

We can deliver homes which are green, sustainable and affordable

Because we have done it before

Because we have the skills in our construction sector,

The demand in our economy;

But it won’t be delivered if the government continues down this path and the economy does not grow.

And I cannot be alone in this hall in seeing that the repeated downgrading of the growth forecasts

By the Treasury, the OBR, the IMF, the OECD -

Does nothing to inspire confidence in builders, lenders or consumers to invest in housing.

And the 17% increase in repossessions in the last quarter is just one of many very worrying indicators that the economy is not where it should or could be.

The strength and success of the economy is vital.

Let’s be clear:

Top down targets didn’t stop house building in England, or across the UK

It is not the case as Grant Shapps says, that,

The reason we went from 207,000 net additional dwellings in England in 2007-08 to just 128,680 in 2009-10 was not because we had Regional Spatial Strategies but because we had a recession.

Indeed, without government action they would have fallen further

And the construction industry, which was badly hit, could have been decimated.

In a year when house building fell to fewer than 130,000 new homes – almost half were new and affordable homes

And it’s no coincidence that the Labour government was investing in affordable new housing at the time.

If the government honestly can’t recognise what caused the collapse in building levels then I have little faith in their ability to divine a solution.

Let me briefly, as we look at Labour’s record, say something about the Decent Homes Programme.

Millions of homes, transformed – tackling the £19 billion backlog of disrepair we inherited.

Flats and houses which were once

Cold,

Damp

Mouldy

Where the windows were rotting

And the kitchen and bathroom were falling apart

We invested the money

Delivered on a promise to tenants

Made the links with health, crime and education that the benefits were not just about bricks and mortar but could be seen and felt more widely.

& because of that investment, we saved large numbers of social homes from being condemned and demolished after decades of neglect.

I’ve given a couple of speeches recently on the links between health & housing including hosting a joint event at the Commons with my predecessor, now Shadow Health Secretary, John Healey on that issue.

But we have to go further than simply ensuring the pretty fundamental requirement that our homes should not make us ill –

We need to think more broadly about design, public realm, infrastructure & amenities

And how all these things come together to develop and sustain communities in which people feel that they have a social investment worth maintaining.

Now, let us turn to where we might be in four years’ time and where Labour’s Housing Review is taking us.

Since coming into office, the Tories have :

Cut the funding for new affordable housing by 60%

Scrapped Homebuy Direct and then resurrected it as Firstbuy

Unlawfully revoked Regional Spatial Strategies,

Which were reintroduced by the High Court,

And currently on their way out again in the Localism Bill

– causing what the CLG Select Committee referred to as

There is, at the moment, no confidence in the sector because of the lack of certainty in the planning system.

They introduced a new Affordable Housing Framework through the HCA which effectively rules out new developments for social rent

Introduced a new model of rent, charged at 80% of the market rate – in some places putting RSL accommodation out of the reach of low-income families

Or forcing people into a benefit dependency that we so want to avoid.

The figures here are quite clear – the government’s own impact assessment for the 80% model projects a consequential increase of the housing benefit bill of £1.2bn.

They’ve sent out a strong – and frankly inexplicable - message that hard work will reap no rewards – just an eviction notice – to people living in social housing

Scrapped Labour’s rules on HMOs which would have required planning permission for new bedsits

And introduced flexible tenancies for council and RSL tenants which replace secure tenure with one which can last for as little as two years.

At times recently, it has felt as if policy – particularly on social housing- has just been thought up on the hoof with little coherence or strategic direction.

Indeed we have seen policy announced on one day to be changed on the next.

This does not sound to me like the recipe for the sunny uplands that the Government so often invokes when it speaks about housing.

My concern is that house building levels and, importantly, confidence in the sector, from both suppliers and consumers, will remain low

With numbers kicking around the 130,000 figure as the economy fails to pick up and credit remains tight.

I worry that the shortfall in supply that we have now will be significantly worse by the end of this parliament

And, as you all know, it is supply which underpins everything which needs to be done

And should be done to ensure people have safe, secure and affordable homes to live in.

I think that we will see the rumblings of a crisis breaking through into the political mainstream as young professionals in their twenties and thirties realise that they can’t afford to move out of shared flats and afford their own home – either for rent or to buy.

As they, and their parents, realise that they cannot save towards the 20-25% deposits they need to have in order to get a mortgage.

Figures from CLG on the size of deposits and incomes for first time buyers are breathtaking.

The most recent figures show an average income of £63,000 in London and £44,000 across the UK for first-time buyers, from which they need to raise an average deposit of £103,000 or £52,000 respectively.

Yes, the average deposit for a first-time buyer in London, according to the Department for Communities & Local Government is £103,000.

And as young people look back to their parents’ generation – when the age of a first time buyer in the 1980s was 30 and then look at their own situation today when the average age, without family help, is 37 and rising towards 40.

And yet rents keep rising – up by 4.4% nationally and 7.8% in London in the past year according to one set of figures released last week,

Along with the rising cost of living – it’s making saving for a deposit harder than ever.

With a weak economy keeping interest rates low, saving becomes even less attractive – and the recent Scottish Widows report on savings levels, especially among younger people makes for sobering reading.

And relying on the bank of Mum and Dad is less of a realistic proposition when their finances are being squeezed by other demands and the same ever rising cost of living.

The squeezed middle is a reality and clearly evidenced in the housing market.

Stuck between high rents, tight credit and low savings, I worry that there is a vicious cycle keeping younger people from achieving their aspiration of somewhere to call their own.

And when hard working families in social housing realise they’ve been sold a dud when they get a promotion at work and, consequently lose their home.

Or when, finally, they’re offered a home which suits their needs but which comes with no security of tenure.

Importantly, we all need to be very concerned that the government will accept too late that by the end of this CSR period, when RSLs have put rents up as much as they are can,

When RSLs have leveraged those rents to the maximum extent,

When they have sweated their assets and made efficiency savings that there is no money left in the kitty for affordable house building

We have heard nothing from the government about what happens next;

And lenders and investors will certainly want to know.

Clearly our Review has to consider how a future housing programme can be funded

And Ed Balls, our Shadow Chancellor, put forward a policy, at the time of the budget, which would have pumped £1.2 billion into house building by using a windfall on bankers’ bonuses.

That was a fully costed proposal – for 25,000 new affordable homes – for social rent and for low cost home ownership.

Labour put that policy forward, the Tories rejected it outright.

So don’t let it be said that Labour isn’t on the front foot when it comes to delivering affordable homes and getting the economy moving.

This Tory Government has a responsibility to tell us what it will do.

They know the money dries up at the end of the CSR period so what is the Plan B Mr Shapps?

Or do you too, like Mr Osborne, not have one?

I believe that housing, for all the wrong reasons, will become a decisive issue in national political life. Housing generally features a bit of way down in people’s priorities – after the economy, education and health, but that is starting to change.

So where does that put Labour now?

We can criticise Government and harry them as we have done throughout the passage of the Localism Bill,

And, indeed, put forward our own proposals- as we did with scores of new clauses and amendments when that bill was in the Commons

We can seek to point out inconsistencies in government policy –

We can make a stand in the Commons on issues where we fundamentally disagree – but we know that we don’t have the votes,

And the Liberals, whilst making noises about being the Government’s conscience are not putting their money where their mouth is and voting against policies, which in a former life they would never have supported.

What we can do, however, is to use this time to carefully and methodically look at the housing sector in developing our policy direction.

Many of the proposals in our election manifesto are still relevant

But looking ahead they may well have to be honed and changed to meet future housing needs and the changing market –and whatever state the national finances and economy are in by 2015

We need, basically, to talk about housing, to talk about homes.

Not social homes, or home ownership, but homes and the journey we all take though different forms of tenure at different stages in our lives,

In different parts of the country,

In different income groups.

We need to be looking at the availability of land –

How do we encourage release and development?

I am not against incentives per se but in a good market where house builders get the price they need for the homes they built, they may not be necessary.

Are we targeting the right sort of sites in the right places?

Local markets can’t always absorb high volumes –

We have to avoid being London centric –

Perhaps smaller sites for development could be the answer to the faster selling of homes.

On Empty Homes, – will the measures being put in place prove effective? – bringing 3000 homes into use is welcome, but barely scratches the surface when there are three quarters of a million empty homes in England.

And after the government’s cuts to the HMR programmes we are working to see whether there is a better solution.

What about self build – again the Government is making a half hearted attempt at encouraging growth in this area.

I sense there is more to come but it requires a cultural change and more co-operative thinking but it is nonetheless an area which needs further attention.

Ensuring that we understand who needs housing:

Who are the people on the waiting lists?

What are their aspirations & what are their needs?

Some local authorities are doing some interesting work looking at their lists.

Understanding the type of housing needed & where it is wanted is vital-

And so establishing a good evidence base to try and avoid the risk of too many one bed homes being built in areas where family housing is needed is essential if we are to realise the individual aspirations of millions of people who want a better home

Irrespective of tenure,

Which meets their needs?

At a cost they can afford

And of a standard which, at a bare minimum, does not pose a health risk.

And whilst the Tory government attacks aspiration from people living in social housing by saying: ‘

Ed Miliband has been clear that responsibility and hard work must always be recognised & rewarded.

I don’t want to see social housing whittled away at and reduced simply to a ‘home of last resort’ – I want to see a mix of people in social housing;

I want working families to feel that it is a viable option for them; people who contribute through volunteering should feel that social housing is open to them.

That’s why Labour rejects the government’s idea that hard work should only earn you an eviction notice.

Who want to make sure that getting up in the morning and going to work – whether paid or voluntary – is something that the state rewards.

I want to break down the overly siloed approach which sees social housing, private rented housing, and home ownership as separate areas with separate constituencies within society

And which prevents the strong linkages which exist with other government departments – health, education, skills from being made.

And when we talk about aspiration, that we are careful not to be too prescriptive about what we think that aspiration should be

I believe that home ownership is a very good thing – it allows you to build an asset, to have something to call your own, and, in most cases, it gives you security.

There is a separate debate to be had around the nature & importance of that asset.

But who am I to say that my experience of housing should be the same as everybody else’s?

Too often in the past we went from speaking about an aspiration for a home to just talking about home ownership.

For people who, for whatever reason, need flexibility in their lives, flexibility to move – either within this country, or abroad, home ownership might not always be the best option –

So we need to give them confidence that we can deliver a private rented sector which is attractive and sustainable to them

And which ensures that homes in the Private Rented Sector can be freed from the Rachmanite stereotypes of the past.

We need to look at policies which can encourage institutional and other investment into this sector and helps to raise standards – and we don’t have to look far to see the possibilities here, in the Netherlands 80% of private rented stock is owned by institutional investors

And if people want to move into home ownership – then we need to look at ways to meet that aspiration which acknowledges that credit might be tight.

New ways to deal with old problems.

There is a lot of innovative thinking going on both among private developers of all sizes but with their partners in the social housing sector.

People are seeking out future opportunities for building and services and that is why I don’t want to see us develop policy too quickly.

If it were quick and easy to solve the problems of housing policy then someone would have done it by now.

There is too much riding on us getting this policy right, to risk rushing to produce nice sound bites.

Why, well there is precedent here and I will give one example:

When the Tories were in opposition, the New Homes Bonus was their flagship policy on supply – and when they came in it was put into place without even a statement from the despatch box by the minister.

No studies have said that the New Homes Bonus will deliver the levels of housing we need, the government’s own impact study suggested a boost of just 14,000 homes a year –

And research conducted by my office and confirmed by the House of Commons library showed that it pays significantly larger sums per home to wealthy areas of the country, paid for by cutting grants to councils in deprived parts of the country:

An expensive, unfair and ineffective policy – we’ve got to do better than that.

The Tories had thirteen years of opposition to develop a comprehensive housing policy,

It feels, instead, that much of what they’ve come up with is the product of the last thirteen months.

Caroline Flint, who is leading on the Housing Review, and I want to make sure that Labour’s next housing policy is a substantial, carefully considered, well tested piece of work.

I haven’t been able to talk through today all the work which we are undertaking but we want to thoroughly interrogate different options and see how we can make the picture fit together and deliver for this country.

Now that process in already underway –

We have a working group of experts from across the sector looking into different areas,

We have issued a call for evidence from outside bodies to draw on the wealth of experience which exists from those working on the ground.

Many of you in this room may well be part of organisations which have already, or will want to, contribute.

If you are not sure about how to do this then please get in touch with me at the House of Commons.

In addition to which we’re holding specific roundtables. One on the private rented sector in early July to which the CIH, naturally, has been invited, as have a broad range of individuals and organisations with an interest in the sector.

And one on housing for older people developing work which has been done by the National Federation of Housing Associations and Age UK in this field.

As we move forward I expect more of these – and ways to make sure that our policy isn’t just developed in committee rooms in Westminster

I’m spending a week touring the North of England in July to listen to peoples’ experiences and concerns of housing there – and there will be more of that in the coming months.

It is a long process –

And so it should be –

We want to hear from everyone: we know that no one party or interest group can have the monopoly on wisdom.

This is a significant undertaking but a very necessary one.

So when I say that I’m listening, I mean it –

I’m pleased that looking out across this room there are more familiar faces than not and I am so grateful for all the help, advice and input that you have given me so far

And my door is always open to meet with anyone with ideas – or who just wants to explain what is or isn’t working for you at the moment.

The prospectus from this Tory government is a bleak one and it’s our job to try and map a positive way forward.