{"id":84552,"date":"2017-09-19T11:00:33","date_gmt":"2017-09-19T11:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?guid=258d6bf8b03b841e3b255907952338c5"},"modified":"2017-09-19T11:00:33","modified_gmt":"2017-09-19T11:00:33","slug":"speech-sajid-javids-speech-to-the-national-housing-federation-conference-2017","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?p=84552","title":{"rendered":"Speech: Sajid Javid’s speech to the National Housing Federation conference 2017"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Thank you, David [Orr, Chief Executive, National Housing Federation], and good morning everyone.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s great to be here in Birmingham and a real honour to be opening your conference this year.<\/p>\n

And it\u2019s good to see so many of you here at what is a particularly important and, as we\u2019ve just heard, particularly challenging time for this country\u2019s housing associations.<\/p>\n

I know, of course, you\u2019ve got a lot on your minds.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve certainly got a lot on mine and I\u2019m looking forward to sharing that with you.<\/p>\n

But before all that, as an almost-local Member of Parliament I have to give you a quick West Midlands history lesson!<\/p>\n

Here at the ICC<\/abbr> we\u2019re literally just over the road from the site of the first major Cadbury factory, which opened its doors in 1847.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not there anymore, sadly.<\/p>\n

But if you pop out at lunchtime you can still see the little canal spur that served the rapidly growing business.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s right there behind the giant hotel and the Australian theme pub!<\/p>\n

I\u2019m fairly sure neither of them were there at that time!<\/p>\n

And that wasn\u2019t the only difference.<\/p>\n

Back in the 1800s, the area wasn\u2019t the clean, fresh, welcoming place that you all saw this morning.<\/p>\n

Quite the opposite.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s why after nearly 30 years here on Bridge Street, the Cadbury brothers upped sticks and they moved operations 5 miles south to what was then a bucolic rural idyll that sat just outside the city.<\/p>\n

They moved there because, yes, they needed a bigger, more appropriate site.<\/p>\n

But they also wanted a better place for their workers and their families to make their homes.<\/p>\n

As George Cadbury said at the time \u201cNo man ought to be condemned to live in a place where a rose cannot grow\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Cadburys recognised that our homes aren\u2019t just places where we sleep and eat.<\/p>\n

They aren\u2019t just machines for living in.<\/p>\n

Machines don\u2019t have souls and hearts, but homes do.<\/p>\n

They shape who we are.<\/p>\n

They reflect our lives, our choices, our personalities.<\/p>\n

And our homes can limit us too.<\/p>\n

Living in the wrong kind of house or the wrong kind of place can close off avenues and opportunities, and of course can affect your life chances.<\/p>\n

A child who can\u2019t find a quiet place to study may struggle to make progress at school.<\/p>\n

An adult who is unable to relocate may miss out on a life-changing promotion at work.<\/p>\n

And, of course, you\u2019re also judged on where you live.<\/p>\n

On what kind of house you live in.<\/p>\n

Which side of the tracks you came from.<\/p>\n

I grew up on Stapleton Road in Bristol \u2013 also known as \u201cBritain\u2019s most dangerous street\u201d or a \u201cmoral cesspit\u201d, depending on your tabloid of choice.<\/p>\n

And I remember my school careers adviser telling me that there was no point in aiming high because kids from my neck of the woods simply didn\u2019t take A-levels or go to university.<\/p>\n

Society had low expectations of us, and we were expected to live down to them.<\/p>\n

It was the same years later, when I was applying for jobs with merchant banks in London.<\/p>\n

I got the sense that the interview panels had never before met someone who lived in the overcrowded flat above the family shop.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s just my experience. It\u2019s just one person\u2019s story.<\/p>\n

But if the Grenfell tragedy showed us anything, it was the extent to which these attitudes have spread and become deeply ingrained in the way this country thinks and it acts.<\/p>\n

While I don\u2019t want to pre-judge the findings of the public or police inquiries, it\u2019s clear that in the months and the years before the fire the residents of Grenfell Tower were not listened to.<\/p>\n

That their concerns were ignored or dismissed.<\/p>\n

That too many people in positions of power saw tenants less as people with families and more as problems that needed to be managed.<\/p>\n

A lot has been written and said about the social and political context of Grenfell.<\/p>\n

Much of it accurate, some of it less so.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s certainly been some unfair criticism of social landlords generally.<\/p>\n

Unfair because I know that everyone in this room is passionate about what they do.<\/p>\n

Passionate about getting safe, secure, affordable roofs over the heads of families.<\/p>\n

I know that and you know that.<\/p>\n

And I want to thank you all, and everyone that you employ, for all the good that you do. Thank you very much.<\/p>\n

But the question I keep coming back to is very simple.<\/p>\n

In one of the richest, most privileged corners of the UK \u2013 the world, even \u2013 would a fire like this have happened in a privately owned block of luxury flats?<\/p>\n

If you believe that the answer is no, even if you think it was simply less likely, then it\u2019s clear that we need a fundamental rethink of social housing in this country.<\/p>\n

Because whether they\u2019re owned by a council or by a housing association, whether they\u2019re managed by a TMO<\/abbr> or a local authority, we\u2019re not just talking about bricks and mortar.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re not just talking about assets on your balance sheet.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re talking about peoples\u2019 homes.<\/p>\n

About people\u2019s lives.<\/p>\n

Over the past few weeks the Housing Minister, Alok Sharma, has been meeting with social housing tenants right across the country.<\/p>\n

And from those conversations it\u2019s already clear that they want us to look again at the quality and safety of what\u2019s on offer.<\/p>\n

To look again at the way tenants are listened to and their concerns acted on.<\/p>\n

To look again at the number of homes being built, at community cohesion and more besides.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s exactly what this government is going to do.<\/p>\n

Today I can announce that we will be bringing forward a green paper on social housing in England.<\/p>\n

A wide-ranging, top-to-bottom review of the issues facing the sector, the green paper will be the most substantial report of its kind for a generation.<\/p>\n

It will kick off a nationwide conversation on social housing.<\/p>\n

What works and what doesn\u2019t work.<\/p>\n

What has gone right and what has gone wrong,<\/p>\n

Why things have gone wrong and \u2013 most importantly \u2013 how to fix them.<\/p>\n

And the results will help everyone involved in the whole world of social housing: local and central government, housing associations, TMOs, and of course the tenants themselves, to make this country\u2019s social housing provision something the whole nation can be proud of.<\/p>\n

Of course, in the wake of Grenfell, the green paper will look at safety issues.<\/p>\n

But it will need to go much further.<\/p>\n

It will look at the overall quality of social homes, many of which are now beginning to show their age.<\/p>\n

It will cover service management, the way social homes and their tenants are taken care of.<\/p>\n

It will look at the rights of tenants and show how their voices can be better heard.<\/p>\n

And it will cover what can be done to ensure their complaints are taken seriously and dealt with properly, and make sure tenants have clear, timely avenues to seek redress when things do go wrong.<\/p>\n

If a resident reports a crack in the wall that you can fit your hand in, big enough to use as a book shelf, it shouldn\u2019t just be patched up and ignored.<\/p>\n

The reason it\u2019s there and the impact it could have need to be properly investigated.<\/p>\n

Problems shouldn\u2019t just be fixed, they should be learned from.<\/p>\n

These are the kind of issues the green paper will explore.<\/p>\n

But that\u2019s not all. It will also look at wider issues of place, community, and the local economy.<\/p>\n

How can social landlords help to create places that people really want to live in, places where roses can grow?<\/p>\n

What role can social housing policy play in building safe and integrated communities, where people from different backgrounds get along no matter what type of housing they live in?<\/p>\n

How do we maximise the benefits for social housing for the local, regional and national economy as part of our Industrial Strategy?<\/p>\n

What more can we do to help tackle homelessness?<\/p>\n

What support is needed for leaseholders who have a social landlord?<\/p>\n

What can be done to tackle illegal sub-letting, not just chasing down offenders but dealing with the cause of the problem in the first place?<\/p>\n

And, at the heart of it all, how can you, me, local government and others work together to get more of the right homes built in the right places?<\/p>\n

As you can tell \u2013 I hope! \u2013 I\u2019m talking about a substantial body of work.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a green paper that will inform both government policy and the wider debate for many years to come.<\/p>\n

And I want to make sure that we hear from everyone with something to say.<\/p>\n

Not just the usual suspects \u2013 those working in the sector or the think-tanks and lobbyists.<\/p>\n

But the people who matter most, the people living in or clamouring for social housing.<\/p>\n

So it\u2019s not something we\u2019re going to rush.<\/p>\n

Yes, I do want to see it published as soon as possible.<\/p>\n

But what matters most is getting it right.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s simply too much at stake to do otherwise.<\/p>\n

Whatever comes about as a result of the green paper, much of the delivery is going to be down to the people in this room, the housing associations.<\/p>\n

You own homes, you manage homes and of course you build homes.<\/p>\n

Tens of thousands of them every year.<\/p>\n

The housing market in this country has been crippled by a long-term failure to match supply and demand.<\/p>\n

But I\u2019m under no illusion that, without your contribution, the situation would have been far, far worse.<\/p>\n

By next year you\u2019re set to reach 65,000 new homes a year, an incredible achievement and one that makes a real difference to the lives of countless people. So thank you again.<\/p>\n

The associations you represent are charities, trusts, co-operatives, societies and so on.<\/p>\n

But you don\u2019t get build-out numbers like that, numbers that rival the likes of Barratt and Bellway, without running your organisations as serious businesses.<\/p>\n

And for all your passion and your social mission, you\u2019re exactly that \u2013 serious businesses.<\/p>\n

The people in this room today represent a sector with \u00a3140 billion of assets and some \u00a370 billion of debt.<\/p>\n

Before I came into politics, a huge part of my job was all about helping companies secure the capital that they needed in order to grow.<\/p>\n

Some of it through debt, some of it through investment.<\/p>\n

So I know first-hand that a business can\u2019t attract funding without certainty about its future prospects.<\/p>\n

Businesses need to know that economic regulations aren\u2019t going to dramatically change without warning.<\/p>\n

They need a stable, predictable base on which to build \u2013 literally, in your case!<\/p>\n

And of course lenders need to know that a company is a reliable investment prospect before they\u2019ll put up any money.<\/p>\n

Our housing white paper<\/a>, which was published earlier this year, gave you all a detailed insight into our long-term plans for fixing the broken housing market, and the vital role that housing associations will have in that.<\/p>\n

Thanks to the white paper, you already know that we\u2019re doing all we can to free up sites, to reform the planning process, to invest in infrastructure and so on.<\/p>\n

That we\u2019re working with you to help you build faster and better, raising both the quality and quantity of our housing stock.<\/p>\n

But of course you need much more than that.<\/p>\n

Right now, you\u2019re trying to make long-term investment decisions without knowing what your rental return is going to be after 2020.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not ideal, of course I get that.<\/p>\n

You need certainty and you need clarity and you need them sooner rather than later.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why I\u2019ve been pushing right across government, as hard as I can, to confirm the future formula for social housing rents.<\/p>\n

I would have liked to stand here today and tell you exactly what it is going to be.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, I have to tell you, the t\u2019s are still being crossed and the i\u2019s dotted.<\/p>\n

But I can promise you this: an announcement will be made very, very soon.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m doing everything I can, pushing as hard I can.<\/p>\n

And you\u2019re not going to have to wait much longer for the detail you need and deserve.<\/p>\n

The same is true of Right To Buy.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a policy that has always been popular with tenants.<\/p>\n

I know the same is not necessarily true of all the delegates here today.<\/p>\n

I think it\u2019s a great scheme.<\/p>\n

It helps people get on the housing ladder and, by releasing funds, it helps deliver the next generation of homes for affordable rent.<\/p>\n

There are issues that need looking at, I accept that.<\/p>\n

I thank the National Housing Federation and all of you for your open, honest and constructive feedback on Right to Buy.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ll be making a decision on the way forward just as soon as we possibly can.<\/p>\n

As many of you will have seen, at DCLG\u2019s main office there\u2019s a wall with official portraits of everyone who has led the department or its predecessors.<\/p>\n

They go all the way back to Hugh Dalton, in 1950.<\/p>\n

Some of the pictures are more flattering than others.<\/p>\n

Richard Crossman, he looks like he\u2019s appearing in an Alfred Hitchcock film.<\/p>\n

Chris Patten seems to have been surprised by a photographer while relaxing in his local library.<\/p>\n

And John Prescott\u2019s eyes\u2026 they kind of follow you wherever you walk\u2026<\/p>\n

I know some civil servants find that a little bit creepy when they\u2019re alone in the office late at night!<\/p>\n

But the one that always catches my eye is Harold Macmillan.<\/p>\n

When Winston Churchill appointed Macmillan as Housing Minister in 1951, he gave him one very simple instruction: \u201cbuild houses for the people\u201d.<\/p>\n

And the presence of his photograph on the wall at DCLG is a daily reminder of the spectacular fashion in which he did just that.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m proud of my government\u2019s record on council housing.<\/p>\n

[Political content removed]<\/p>\n

But Macmillan was on a whole other level.<\/p>\n

While he was housing minister, Britain built 300,000 houses a year, the vast majority what today we would call social homes.<\/p>\n

Cramped, dense, inner-city slums were replaced with spacious, high-quality homes in the suburbs.<\/p>\n

Millions of people were given their first experience of indoor plumbing, of front and rear gardens.<\/p>\n

Never mind living somewhere a rose could grow \u2013 the planners behind new towns boasted of homes where a tree could be seen from every window.<\/p>\n

Supermac built houses for the people and the people loved them.<\/p>\n

Living in social housing carried no stigma, no shame.<\/p>\n

Quite the opposite, in fact.<\/p>\n

For many, it was seen the gold standard for accommodation.<\/p>\n

Not a final safety net for the desperate and destitute but something you could genuinely aspire to, housing you would actively choose to live in.<\/p>\n

As a country we were all rightly proud of it.<\/p>\n

But over time, that all changed.<\/p>\n

Social housing stock became increasingly neglected, as did the people who lived in it.<\/p>\n

The Establishment became detached, aloof, focussed its attentions elsewhere.<\/p>\n

And the tragic events of 14 June showed exactly where that attitude can lead.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why, when I say we must do everything possible to prevent a repeat of Grenfell, I\u2019m not just talking about the cladding or the stairways or the sprinklers.<\/p>\n

We need to shift the whole conversation about social housing, reframe the whole debate.<\/p>\n

We need to challenge outdated, unfair attitudes.<\/p>\n

We need to return to the time, not so very long ago, when social housing was valued.<\/p>\n

It was treasured.<\/p>\n

Something we could all be proud of whether we lived in it or not.<\/p>\n

I know that\u2019s exactly what many of you in the sector have been trying to achieve for many, many years.<\/p>\n

Well, I\u2019m proud to stand here today and say that you have a Secretary of State who\u2019s totally committed to the cause.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m delighted to say you have a Prime Minister who is too.<\/p>\n

Because we both recognise that if we\u2019re going to make this a country that works for everyone, we need housing that works for everyone.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s true regardless of whether you\u2019re an owner-occupier, a private rental tenant, or living in social housing.<\/p>\n

After any disaster we search for lessons, for a legacy, for some light to come out of the darkness.<\/p>\n

The legacy of Grenfell, the lessons that we learn, the changes that we make \u2013 none of that should be confined to fire safety.<\/p>\n

The legacy of Grenfell can and must be a whole new approach to the way this country thinks about social housing.<\/p>\n

Achieving this will not be simple or straightforward.<\/p>\n

We \u2013 all of us \u2013 must be committed to bringing about this change.<\/p>\n

It demands nothing less.<\/p>\n

Thank you.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Secretary of State’s speech to the National Housing Federation annual conference 2017.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84552"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=84552"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84552\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=84552"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=84552"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=84552"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}