The Government must employ a basket of measures, covering all tenures of housing, if sufficient finance is ever to be available to tackle the country’s housing crisis, says the Communities and Local Government (CLG) Committee in its report examining the financing of new housing supply.
The Committee sets out four key areas for action, which, taken together, could go a long way to raising the finance needed to meet the housing shortfall:
- Large-scale investment from institutions and pension funds
- Changes to the financing of housing associations, including a new role for the historic grant on their balance sheets
- Greater financial freedoms for local authorities
- New and innovative models, including a massive expansion of self build housing
Institutional Investment
The Committee finds that large institutions and pension funds, which have only ever made a limited contribution to new housing, could provide a substantial source of investment.
“We should be looking to new forms of investment to help address the housing shortfall. Pension funds and large financial institutions have a blind spot when it comes to housing but could deliver a significant number of new homes for rent and achieve a steady return on their investments. Public sector bodies and housing associations must encourage such investment.” adds Clive Betts.
Read CEO David Toplas’ view on the report
