Thriving Investments’ Post

🌍 Forum for Better Homes NI Calls for Certainty on Programme for Government Commitments! 🏡 This week at Stormont, policymakers and housing experts gathered to discuss how we can decarbonise homes in Northern Ireland. 💡 Key Commitment: The draft Programme for Government focuses on decarbonising all housing stock and retrofitting existing homes to meet net zero by 2050. 💬 David Little, Chair of the Forum for Better Homes NI, stated: "The commitment to decarbonise is crucial, but the housing sector needs clarity. More details must be provided on how this will be achieved." 🤝 Forum members like Jenny Burnside, Northern Ireland Ambassador for Lloyds Banking Group, are working alongside the government to provide sustainable funding and partnership models to support this vital cause. 🏘️ Decarbonising homes: Tackling fuel poverty Reducing emissions in residential areas Boosting green jobs for economic growth https://lnkd.in/eSUz8Jpd #NetZero2050 #GreenHousing #SustainableHomes #BetterHomesNI #Decarbonisation #HousingPolicy #StormontEvent #GreenEconomy #NorthernIreland Caption: David Honeyford MLA, Colin Crawford MLA, Alan Ritchie former Chair RSUA Climate Emergency Committee, Philip Brett MLA, David Little Chair Forum for Better Homes NI, Gavin McGuire NI Director Federation of Master Builders, Jenny Burnside Northern Ireland Ambassador Lloyds Banking Group, Carol McTaggart Group CEO Clanmil Homes

In the week that the British Property Federation (BPF) launched its #housing manifesto, our director Luke Cross caught up with Ian Fletcher, BPF’s policy director and discussed: ✅ BPF’s manifesto and call to action for the new government to address the housing crisis ✅Cross-sector opportunities across residential markets ✅The role of private capital in affordable housing: new partnerships and ways to attract and deploy more capital into affordable housing ✅The launch of a new ‘Code of Governance’ for for-profit registered providers (FPRPs)   ✅Investors at Housing 2024: what it’s about and why people should come along! Watch here 👉 https://lnkd.in/ejDNavcM Building for Generations: Unlocking Investment into Housing is the BPF’s residential manifesto for the 2024 general election, setting out the ambitions of the sector, and the policies required to achieve them. You can read more about this here 👉 https://lnkd.in/efZPUnhd

💡From the importance of political engagement to driving ESG standards: SfH Board Member David Cleary reflects on the National Housing Federation’s Board Excellence Conference. Lloyds Banking Group's Head of Housing, David, spent two days in Manchester last week taking stock of key challenges and opportunities for chairs and non-executive directors across the housing sector. David reports that the event yielded insights into a range of strategic priorities including: ➡️The importance of engaging with the political landscape, both before and after the impending General Election ➡️ How the UK’s economic environment is likely to evolve over the next year and the implications for housing associations' finances ➡️ An exploration of possible solutions to the housing crisis [see picture] ➡️ The wide range of priorities on boards' ESG agendas - from consumer regulation to fire safety and decarbonisation - and the contribution of the Sustainability Reporting Standard for Social Housing (SRS) to driving standards across the piece. Click below for more of David's insights and reflections from the event. [Pictured: Kate Henderson, Mike Amesbury MP, Rabina Khan and Bishop Guli Francis-Dehqani exploring ideas to solve the housing crisis] #NHFBoards #UKHousing #SocialHousing #HousingAssociations #HousingCrisis #ESG

🚀 day 2 of #housingcommunitysummit- 💡💡just attended an insightful session on the financial viability of the housing sector. Great to hear from Jonathan Walters from the Regulator of Social Housing , Noa Fux from S&P Global Ratings @john Barnes from Savills and Kate Wareing from Soha Housing Here are some of the key takeaways: 🔍 Current Pressures: The sector faces numerous challenges but beyond the headlines around building safety financial constraints meeting consumer standards and looking to achieve net zero the challenges across the sector are more nuanced. 🏢 Regional Disparities: London's housing sector is under more financial pressure than in regional areas and evidence from the regulator shows HAs operating in more urban areas often have greater financial challenges in the current climate. Conversely, a number of regions outside London are showing resilience and potential for growth and with capacity for development 📊 Strategic Investment: stock rationalisation should not be the main solution to meeting financial needs but a strategic approach to asset investment and management is needed to ensure organisations are creating value and meeting an organisations objectives and residents needs ⚖️ Governance and Communication: Clear vision and effective stakeholder engagement are key. The sector must balance immediate needs with long-term strategic goals, acknowledging both the necessity of new homes and the importance of maintaining existing stock. 🔄 Financial Dynamics: The sector is grappling with high costs and inflation. There has been a shift from raising debt to looking at equity financing, however the sector still has capacity to raise funding through debt and has significant track record for doing so with lenders and investors still very interested in the sector. There is scope for associations to create more cost efficiencies needed to raise more funding it needs. 🌍 Future Outlook: Despite the challenges, there still should be optimism. The sector's ability to adapt and innovate will be crucial. Collaboration and strategic investments in energy efficiency and asset management are vital for future success. #HousingSector #FinancialViability #StrategicInvestment #BuildingSafety #EnergyEfficiency #Governance #SectorOutlook #housingfinance

🆕🏘️🆕 We're delighted to publish the third Annual Review of the Sustainability Reporting Standard for Social Housing (SRS) with Sustainability for Housing (SfH). 🔗 Read the Annual Review now ➡️ https://bit.ly/467No0B The Review showcases significant progress in ESG performance by social housing providers across the UK in areas including energy efficiency, affordability, and social equity. It also finds that the SRS is providing better and more useful information to help housing providers and funders assess ESG performance in the sector. These findings represent great progress on the goals set when the SRS was created in 2020: connecting housing associations with ESG-focused funders and driving improvements in ESG performance. Some of the key findings include: 🔑 74% of housing providers found it easy or very easy to report against the SRS, with a fifth of providers finding the process easier the second or third time around. 🔑 58% of housing providers are using the SRS to benchmark their ESG performance against their peers to at least some extent. 🔑 Close to half of housing providers (44%), and almost all funders (92%) agree that the development of ESG reports has led housing providers to do things that they otherwise would not have done or to accelerate their implementation of planned actions, such as create sustainability strategies and set ESG-related targets. TGE is proud to provide Secretariat support to SfH and its community of SRS Adopters. If you have feedback or questions or wish to discuss the benefits of adopting the SRS, please message 📧 [email protected]. #SustainabilityForHousing #SocialHousing #ESG #ESGReporting

Here’s our round-up of the main #UKHousing policy news and events from the past week 🏘️ 📰 ◾The King’s Speech set out the new government’s priorities for the year ahead. We’ve produced a CIH member briefing ➡️https://ow.ly/FASp50SFNQO ◾CIH & Savills have published a new report on how an updated debt settlement could improve council housing investment in homes ➡️https://ow.ly/Bxrv50SFNQQ ◾We joined with Crisis & partners in calling on the new govt to scrap the Vagrancy Act ➡️ https://ow.ly/a5X550SFNQC ◾The Regulator of Social Housing has published its annual consumer regulation review report which identifies areas for learning ➡️https://ow.ly/tai150SFNQw ◾The Housing Ombudsman has published a complaint handling failure order report which highlights high records of non-compliance ➡️https://ow.ly/Gi5050SFNQF ◾Shelter have published a plan to deliver more social homes & affordable housing ➡️https://ow.ly/kQPN50SFNQN ◾KPMG have published a new report on decarbonising homes ➡️https://ow.ly/nzAs50SFNQK ◾The Competition and Markets Authority has published new guidance on how insulation & green heating technologies should be marketed ➡️https://ow.ly/I6vi50SFNQG ◾Kings College London have published an analysis of the future of Work Capability Assessments ➡️https://ow.ly/CfCg50SFNQL ◾The Climate Change Committee have published their 2024 progress report, highlighting we are off track to meet emissions reduction targets in buildings ➡️https://ow.ly/pOei50SFNQu ◾The final report of the London Climate Resilience Review has been published ➡️https://ow.ly/4q0E50SFNQy ◾The latest English Housing Survey summary reports, covering 2022, have been published ➡️https://ow.ly/46W250SFNQv ◾Around 300,000 houses could be delivered on the ‘Grey Belt’, according to Landtech ➡️https://ow.ly/uQY150SFNQH ◾CIH has responded to the government’s STAIR consultation (thanks to members who fed in) ➡️https://ow.ly/BxQP50SFNQA ◾Updated guidance & application timelines for the Green Heat Network Fund & Heat Network Efficiency Scheme have been published ➡️https://ow.ly/xTR150SFNQE ◾House of Commons library reported inflation falling to 2% but food prices are still rising, impacting those on the lowest incomes the most ➡️https://ow.ly/bKKA50SFNQB ◾Welsh Government has published its heat strategy ➡️https://ow.ly/qPLa50SFNQz ◾Wales’ First Minister has announced that Jayne Bryant MS has been appointed the Cabinet Secretary for Housing, Local Government and planning ➡️https://ow.ly/H8mR50SFNQP ◾Welsh Government has published the results of the homelessness outcomes framework workforce survey ➡️https://ow.ly/g6vR50SFNQx ◾Homes for Scotland reports that 1,800 affordable homes have been stalled due to Scottish Government budget cuts ➡️https://ow.ly/2yAS50SFNQJ 👀ICYMI 👀 If you work in supported housing & missed yesterday's network meeting you can watch the recording ➡️https://shorturl.at/p56pA 📧[email protected] to register for future mgs

Community Housing Industry Association’s 9th Annual Affordable Housing Development and Investment Summit is underway, providing key representatives from across the public and private sectors with a valuable opportunity to hear about the current initiatives aimed at building a strong and sustainable community housing industry and addressing Australia’s housing challenges.    On day one of the Summit, Hugh Hartigan, Head of Research, Data and Analytics moderated an interesting discussion with Marcus Spiller (SGS Economics and Planning), Ad Hereijgers (Ritterwald) and Andrew Hannan (CHC Australia) on the increased focus on ESG investing.    Within the context of the current housing affordability crisis, the panel explored why ESG will be increasingly important in underpinning the growth of the CHP sector and supply of social and affordable housing. #socialhousing #affordablehousing #housingaustralia

A new narrative is needed from the likes of The G15 and National Housing Federation, or else the first flush enthusiasm for The Labour Party's first government in 15 years will quickly evaporate. Just calling for more money for bricks and mortar and calling it 'long term investment' won't cut it. We've been here many times over the past 30+ years that I have been involved in the sector. Goverments have fiscal rules and targets they must work to. They have capacity constraints on borrowing. They have the OBR, IMF and other economic watchdogs on them like hawks in case they are about to 'do a Truss'. Above all they need a solid plan for getting growth into an economy that in the UK is almost entirely dependent on services for new tax revenues having abandoned maufacturing in their economic planning decades ago. A lot of the infrastructure construction being called for does not generate corporation tax revenues, though there are benefits to welfare spending in the case of #socialhousing. The halcyon days of the 80's and 90's are long gone, it is now 2024. We need new 4IR* turbo charged thinking which we are only tinkering with, but yet to fully embrace at present... *4IR = 4th Industrial Revolution #Budget2024 Fiona Fletcher Smith Kate Henderson Phil Jenkins James Tickell Kate Davies CBE FRICS Ian Wright Matthew Gardiner Tom Murtha alistair mcintosh Benjamin Fruhman Jonathan Harrison FCA Helen Collins Tony Oakley Brendan Whitworth

How can we rebalance housing investments to build stronger Communities? 🏡 Yesterday, the Chartered Institute of Housing unveiled the latest UK Housing Review Autumn Briefing Paper, providing new insights into the UK housing policy and investment landscape. This year’s review highlights pressing challenges for Communities across the UK. Despite Government spending on housing reaching £30.5 billion, only 12% goes towards building or improving homes—a stark contrast to 95% in the 1970s. Today, most funding is directed towards housing benefits, emphasising the urgent need to shift resources back to creating homes, not just covering rents. As a proud supporter of the UK Housing Review, Places for People believes housing should not only shelter but also strengthen Communities. Sustainable, affordable housing is essential to creating places where everyone can thrive. By investing more in affordable homes, we can reduce dependency on housing benefits and build a better future for generations to come. Let’s build a future where everyone has a place to call home. Access the full report here to see how we can work together to reshape the future of housing in the UK: https://bit.ly/4eNJZr4 #BecauseCommunityMatters #UKHousing #HousingPolicy #AffordableHousing #SustainableHousing #UKHousingReview #CIH

It's encouraging to see the government highlighting the potential for new funding in large-scale UK projects through a fiscal rules rejig, as reported in The Times. However, beyond revising financial policies, we must rethink our entire approach to building and investment—particularly in housing.   As CEO of L&Q and Chair of the G15, representing London's largest not-for-profit housing associations, I've seen firsthand how government investment in our sector is often viewed as a short-term cost rather than the long-term investment it truly is for our country.   With targeted funding, minor policy adjustments on rent convergence, improved access to the Building Safety Fund, and a new rent settlement, we can support our sector and help fulfil the government's promise to deliver 1.5 million homes by 2029.   Investing in housing isn't just about bricks and mortar—it's about creating sustainable communities and boosting the economy. Let's work together to make this vision a reality.   #Housing #Investment #G15 #GovernmentPolicy #AffordableHousing