Many of us are familiar with Aesop’s Fables, those ancient tales that punctuated many of our childhoods with stories of hares and tortoises and boys crying wolf as a way of imparting wisdom to young minds.
One particular fable, of the oak and the reed, came to mind recently. The moral of this story is that even the strongest position can be overcome by irresistible force, whereas one which bends and adapts to the prevailing winds proves much more durable as times and challenges change.
Such a story is a useful metaphor for what has been another intense year for the country in general and the housing sector in particular. A year ago, it would have seemed unthinkable that 2015, with its general election, new Conservative government and announcement of many new policies, could be topped in drama and change by 2016. But June’s vote to leave the European Union means that might well be the case.
The decision to leave the EU was a turning point in the history of our nation, and no part of our population or policy will be unaffected in the years and decades to come. And, once more, housing is at the centre of the change.
Private housebuilders, severely hit by the uncertainty following the Brexit vote, are going to be significantly curtailed in their building ambitions for the foreseeable future. That uncertainty in the economy also means less access to finance – from the individual would-be homeowner looking for a mortgage right up to the large housing association planning to build thousands more homes – which in turn means we have to think inventively about how we respond.
And that is what the National Housing Federation and housing associations want to do. We have called on the government to be flexible in the use of money already allocated for housing – which would mean that the sector could adjust to the times and restore confidence and stability to the housing market.
By redirecting some of the money from products such as shared ownership and starter homes towards building homes for rent the government can show that it has adapted to the prevailing economic uncertainty and is taking the decisive action needed to secure the economy and advance its stated ambition of building a million homes during this parliament.
Those key themes – of flexibility and stability in the face of a period of change – will be the focus of our annual conference in Birmingham this September. As 3,000 professionals from across the world of housing gather to hear from speakers such as Robert Peston, the new housing minister Gavin Barwell and Princess Anne, we will seek to react to the challenges and opportunities posed by Brexit and push for a response that supports the sector and the economy during this time.
I have always been clear – the housing crisis has been decades in the making and would still be an issue of critical national importance whatever else had happened on 23 June. But the decision made that day adds urgency to the need to find a solution before we see the situation get worse.
For, as that story of the oak and the reed shows, if something cannot be flexible at a time when pressures are forcing it to be so it will break. And if government housing policy cannot adapt to the realities of the situation then it will not realise its goals – leaving us all worse off.
Housing associations have a plan to make sure that isn’t the case – and we will do our utmost to work with the government and the country to make it a reality.
David Orr is chief executive of the National Housing Federation, whose annual conference takes place from 21-23 September 2016.
