It is understood that the government's Social Housing Green
Paper is expected to be published in the Spring of 2018.
The ARCH Executive Board met on 15 January to begin to prepare a
response to the issues.
In announcing the Social Housing Green Paper in a speech on 19
September 2017 the Secretary of State referred back to a time
when:
"Living in social housing carried no stigma, no shame, quite the
opposite, in fact. For many, it was seen the gold standard for
accommodation, 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; and as a country we were all
rightly proud of it" and he said:
"We need to return to the time, not so very long ago, when
social housing was valued. It was treasured. Something we could all
be proud of whether we lived in it or not. I know that's exactly
what many of you in the sector have been trying to achieve for
many, many years. Well, I'm proud to stand here today and say that
you have a Secretary of State who's totally committed to the
cause."
ARCH Chief Executive John Bibby comments:
The Secretary of State and any future government, together with
local authorities and private registered providers, should
demonstrate leadership in ensuring that all social housing reaches
a "Gold Standard" and becomes a tenure that people can aspire to
and be proud of.
ARCH is committed to supporting the Secretary of State's
aspiration which needs to be matched with the allocation of
sufficient resources to achieve this and we will be seeking to
influence the debate about the future of social housing in putting
together a response to the Social Housing Green Paper."
Together with representatives from the LGA, (Local Government
Association), NFA (National Federation of Almos) and CWAG (Councils
with Almos Group), ARCH Chief Executive John Bibby and Policy
Adviser Matthew Warburton met with officials leading on the Housing
Green Paper at the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local
Government (MHCLG) on 24 January to discuss the likely contents of
the Green Paper, what it may include and how we might influence the
debate and make the case for council housing.
There are also a number of other reviews running in parallel
with the planned publication of the government's Housing Green
Paper.
Our Chief Executive John Bibby has been invited to participate
in the CIH (Chartered Institute of Housing) review "Rethinking Social Housing" as a member of the
Project Steering Group and following an initial meeting at the end
of last year a further meeting of the Steering Group will take
place shortly.
The Labour Party have also announced their own Social Housing
Review and have issued a "call for evidence" to help inform their
review. Earlier this week ARCH participated in a roundtable meeting
with John Healey MP, Shadow Minister of State for Housing, who is
leading the Labour Party review.
Shelter has also established a cross-party commission on the future of social
housing and have said they are keen for ARCH to be involved along
the way.
Its task will be, partly in the wake of Grenfell, to establish a
vision of what the public sector in housing should look like in
England in the 21st century, and lead a bit of a
national conversation about how we get there. Shelter say
they want to see a bigger and better social housing sector -one
that meets need but also where tenants feel empowered and listened
to, and one which enjoys widespread public support and the idea is
for the commission to point the way to that.
It is understood that series of public events will be held and
research undertaken between March to October 2018 involving
tenants, social housing providers, those who need social housing,
academics and experts, the wider housing sector, and the public at
large.
The ARCH Board is keen to engage with tenants, elected members
& officers of ARCH member councils in preparing our response to
the Social Housing Green Paper and the other various reviews
ongoing.
We will be looking to arrange a series of consultations and
member events for ARCH members later in the year. In the meantime,
if you have any views or comments on the Housing Green Paper and
the future of social housing that you feel would help begin frame
an ARCH response please forward these to ARCH Chief Executive John
Bibby (john.bibby@arch-housing.org.uk)