Building Homes Building Trust
- Future Shape of the Sector Commission launches new research into the unique role of housing associations in responding to the housing crisis.
- Housing associations need to be building at least 80,000-100,000 new homes annually.
Clarion, L&Q and Network Homes has funded a second Future Shape of the Sector Commission (FSSC) and delivered a report analysing how the sector should evolve to meet England’s housing and community needs most effectively through the 2020s.
It builds on the Growing Up report published ten years ago by the first Commission and moves the discussion forward to where housing associations need to be in the next ten years.
The report builds a picture of future challenges and how we might respond to these by using insights from those with experience and a deep understanding of the sector and the wider environment we operate in.
Research into housing crisis
The FSSC comprises senior leaders with an interest in housing, chaired by Lord Turnbull, a cross bench peer. Clare Miller, group director of governance and compliance at Clarion, was one of the 11 commissioners, alongside David Montague at L&Q and Helen Evans at Network Homes.
The research was launched at the House of Commons on 19 June 2018 to stakeholders ranging from national politicians, local leaders, academics, policy experts and professionals within the housing sector.
The research discusses how we can tackle the current housing crisis as well as prepare for a post-Brexit world and a dramatically changed operating environment.
Scope of the report
It also explores how housing associations should evolve over the next 10-15 years to meet these challenges and ensure change and growth in the sector is managed effectively and in the best interests of customers, stakeholders and society.
Call to Evidence was issued in October 2017 and responses were received from housing associations, government and its key agencies, MPs, local authorities, universities, think tanks, charities, trade bodies, residents and other influential and interested parties. This was followed by 15 depth interviews with Commissioners and key stakeholders, roundtables and visits to Aspire in Stoke and Peabody’s Thamesmead estate.
As with the Growing Up report, this is not a paper presenting a list of all the solutions, but a way to identify some directions of travel and an effective social and economic role for HAs. It presents questions for the sector and others to consider, to help the position to evolve.
