Call for new national mission to build the affordable homes needed

The Housing Secretary Michael Gove and housebuilding chiefs have welcomed a ground-breaking plan to house the homeless and provide permanent homes for the most vulnerable households in Britain.

The plan - called Operation Homemaker - to build 100,000 extra homes over a year and a half is set out in a new report launched by the Housing & Finance Institute, authored by Natalie Elphicke OBE MP, an HFI director.

The delivery of the Homemaker plan will be spearheaded by a cross-party Housing & Finance Institute team including Natalie Elphicke, Lord Kerslake, Sir Steve Bullock and Cllr Keith House.

The Homemaker Team are calling for a new national mission to realise the dream of a decent home for everyone who is without a home of their own - be that on the streets or in temporary accommodation like bed and breakfast.

The Homemaker plan will not simply help the most vulnerable households. It will also provide a £15 Billion stimulus to the economy – helping keep the construction industry going and boosting the economy as a whole.

The Homemaker Team are calling on the Chancellor to use his budget to back their plan. They say their plan does not seek new Government money. They are calling on the Chancellor to signal Government support to institutional investors and to enable current existing budgets to be used to back the plan.

Welcoming the Operation Homemaker plan, the Levelling Up and Housing Secretary Michael Gove MP said: “There is no excuse for poor quality rented housing. Natalie's plan seeking to provide decent permanent homes for the homeless and most vulnerable households is innovative and teaming with ideas to tackle this complex area. I look forward to engaging further with the Operation Homemaker team.”

Natalie Elphicke OBE MP, Chair of Operation Homemaker said: “It’s time for a new national mission to realise the dream of a decent home for everyone who is without a home of their own - be that on the streets or in temporary accommodation like bed and breakfast.

“Having grown up in a council house I know first-hand how important the security of a decent home is to give everyone the best possible start in life and the greatest opportunity.”

Stewart Baseley, Executive Chairman of the HBF (Home Builders Federation) said: “With the industry facing a growing number of significant constraints to its ability to deliver new homes we welcome moves to maintain housing supply. The private sector house building industry now delivers the majority of affordable homes and maintaining housing provision for the most vulnerable, in the face of a wider downturn, should be a priority.”

Sir Steve Bullock DL, Chair of the Housing & Finance Institute said: “As a former Mayor of Lewisham, I saw first-hand the pressures on local councils in providing homes for the thousands of families on the waiting lists. That pressure has only increased in the last few years and Operation Homemaker’s ambition of providing a decent and permanent home for everyone who is homeless or in temporary accommodation is one I wholeheartedly support.”