Homes for Heroes Safe, secure and genuinely affordable homes to rent and buy, starting to repay society's debt to heroic essential workers ...
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Homes for Heroes
Safe, secure and genuinely affordable homes
to rent and buy, starting to repay society’s
debt to heroic essential workers
G15 - Homes for Heroes 1
Executive summary
One hundred years ago being developed by the National idea could be applied nationally.
Housing Federation setting out To effectively show our thanks,
there was a ‘Homes Fit for
how housing associations can heroes will need more than homes
Heroes’ programme that support the country’s economic and we are ready to see what a
welcomed soldiers back and social recovery. The National wider package of measures could
from the Western Front. Housing Federation is working look like. With an initial burst of
with its members and partners government support and funding,
This paper proposes a way across the country to make sure matched by housing associations,
to recapture that spirit the people and communities most thousands of homes could be
with a Homes for Heroes affected by the crisis have the ready for heroes within months.
homes and support they deserve.
programme for our times. A longer-term and more ambitious
For our heroes. Our essential workers deserve programme should follow closely
homes which are energy efficient, behind, to properly thank heroes
The coronavirus crisis has made beautifully designed, and digitally with tens of thousands of homes.
clear who we depend on as a connected. Homes with private It should have a lower cost to the
society and who the essential outside areas and access to high public purse, supported through
workers truly are. Clapping them quality green spaces. And they innovative use of public land,
on our doorsteps is a sign of need to be affordable to people easing the planning system and
appreciation. But we need to do on a range of incomes, from the the development of precision
much more to address the debt lowest paid to those on median manufactured homes in factories.
society owes to them. They have NHS incomes. None of these Such support would have the
risked their lives to keep the workers should struggle to afford added bonus of moving housing
country safe and functioning. a home in their community. manufacturing to factories where
new jobs are needed most.
The G15 wants to use our The G15 already provide homes
resources, skills and experiences to many thousands of these 1. Centre for Economics and Business
Research, (Centre for Economics and
to thank these heroes properly. essential workers. Social housing Business Research, Peabody, CBI, 2016).
We will be able to do so much more is home to one third of London’s
working in partnership across police officers and ambulance
the public, private and charitable staff, and one third of workers in
sectors. This paper sets out the care-related jobs.1
broad outline of how 100,000 As we are predominantly London-
really affordable homes for based housing associations, the
these heroes could be delivered ideas in this paper are rooted
in the next five years. These in London. Any programme
proposals are a contribution to would need to work differently in
a national programme of work different places but we believe the
2 G15 - Homes for Heroes G15 - Homes for Heroes 3
Building blocks to delivery...
1 Create a national programme of
100,000 low-cost homes prioritised
for the heroes who have put
themselves at risk to keep us alive
and healthy throughout this crisis.
Homes for Heroes
Deliver an initial burst of thousands
of homes within months, by 2 At the eleventh hour of
the eleventh day of the
Although it may be too soon to
foresee when our present crisis
across the United Kingdom come
together every week to applaud
matching government funding with will subside, we too have heroes to the NHS for their service, but none
housing association resources to eleventh month of 1918, whom we owe an immeasurable of those clapping their hands or
make completed homes and those the Armistice signed debt of gratitude. In many cases, banging their pots and pans will
by Allied Forces and heroes to whom we owe our lives. want that recognition to be the
under consvtruction available on a end of our appreciation.
low-cost basis for essential workers. Germany brought an end
to the horrors of the First Identifying our heroes
World War. Humanity was Heroes to Using the new government
to emerge from one of whom we definition of key workers,2
there are 1.05m such heroes
the darkest periods in our
owe our
3
in London – 18% of its working
Support a high-tech manufacturing history. age population.3 While many of
base to create jobs across the
country - powering a long-term
A day later, then Prime Minister lives. these will already have a suitable
home, this huge section of our
David Lloyd George gave a speech
ambitious programme to deliver the promising homes “fit for the population shows the scale of the
debt of gratitude we owe.
low-cost homes our heroes need, heroes who have won the war.”
National and local government,
starting to repay society’s debt. Slums would be cleared, homes 2. https://www.gov.uk/government/
businesses around the country, publications/coronavirus-covid-19-
would be rebuilt, and people from
and the general public will not maintaining-educational-provision/
all walks of life, returning to work guidance-for-schools-colleges-and-local-
want to wait until the eleventh
in all kinds of jobs, would be given authorities-on-maintaining-educational-
hour to express their appreciation provision.
decent housing they could afford,
for the essential workers who 3. Farquharson et al, 2020.
providing a stable and secure base
brought us through these
from which they could rebuild our
unprecedented times. The public
4
society.
Spread the costs across society
by part-funding the homes
through public giving, public land,
government funding and housing
associations’ resources, to lever in
private funding.
4 G15 - Homes for Heroes G15 - Homes for Heroes 5
Because our essential Social homes would be affordable
to essential workers on the lowest
A range of tenures and sizes workers have a broad
range of circumstances
incomes. The homes could be 3 - Part buy,
maintained to a high standard
and incomes, a housing with excellent customer service part low rent
Building the homes offer to meet their needs
should be made available
offered by housing associations.
homes
they need at a range of rents and
prices. We believe that
2- For essential workers who earn
three types of affordable Discounted a higher wage, or where they
are on a moderate wage and
homes are needed.
rent homes their partner also works, shared
ownership (part buy, part low
rent) would be an affordable
1 - Social rent For essential workers who earn
option. This is true even in places
where buying a market value
a little more, there needs to be
homes a new discounted rent option,
home would be a long way out of
reach.
significantly below market rents.
Many essential workers on For essential workers with a
For essential workers who earn middle-incomes in London would household income of around
low wages, we need to build never qualify for social housing, £40,000 a year, shared ownership
homes available at the lowest but would still find renting a flat offers a chance to buy an initial
levels of rent. Many essential for themselves very unaffordable 25 per cent share – with a deposit
workers already live in social – especially if they have children. from as little as 5 per cent of that.
rented homes, but many more are Essential workers would be able
trapped in an unaffordable and For an essential worker earning
to buy a greater share of their
insecure private rented sector, a median London NHS salary, a
home over time, if they wanted
often in shared or overcrowded discounted rent would be around
and could afford to do so.
homes. They may not be on 40% of their take home pay.
councils’ housing lists or, if they As part of a Homes for Heroes
are, they may be unlikely to be programme it could come with
allocated social housing in areas the option to own, outright or on
of high demand. a part buy, part low rent basis.
6 G15 - Homes for Heroes G15 - Homes for Heroes 7
The initial burst of Homes 300,000 homes a year that the
country needs.
Paying for these homes for Heroes, converted
from homes intended to Construction activity has a strong
positive effect on the wider
be sold at market prices,
Supporting social and would likely require higher
economy, with every pound
spent having a multiplier effect.
levels of government This may be especially important
economic recovery investment to match in recovering from the potential
economic crisis caused by the
housing association current pandemic.
borrowing. Precision-manufacturing these
A longer-term programme homes would reduce waste,
would come with lower costs to increase quality and create jobs
the public purse but even with where they are needed most.
substantial contributions from These low-cost homes need
housing association borrowing, to be built in the areas that
additional investment, public essential workers need them
giving and sales receipts – there but precision-manufacturing
would be a need for significant offers an opportunity to create
levels of government investment. most of the economic activity of
home-building in other areas.
The costs of a longer-term Through a targeted industrial
programme could be reduced policy government, perhaps
through innovative use of land supported by the Advanced
and precision manufacturing of Research Projects Agency, could
high-quality homes. create hubs for manufacturing
of homes to expand the capacity
Bringing about a boost for housing supply and stimulate
Building homes for our heroes economic activity – both in the
in this way will not just benefit areas that need them most.
heroes and their families. A
significant programme could help
to stimulate wider construction
activity to help towards the
8 G15 - Homes for Heroes G15 - Homes for Heroes 9
Homes for key workers many of these could be left unsold The crisis has impacted people
Short term and long term and empty for some time. Instead, in different ways. Affluent white
shouldn’t come at the
if government and housing collar workers who have endured
expense of the affordable associations provide funding to this crisis with the benefit of
Delivery homes that
already been planned.
have convert these into affordable
Homes for Heroes, they could
be immediately occupied and
spacious homes and gardens and
reduced expenditure and time
on commuting will want to give
Ensuring that, in a time homebuilders would be able to something back to benefit the
of economic uncertainty, use the proceeds to keep building workers earning less money and
will require a great deal the homes we need. living in less adequate housing,
who have put their lives on the
of support through the line.
government’s Affordable
Homes Programme 2 - Scale-up a Similarly, businesses that have
survived this crisis due to
and potentially other partnership government’s unprecedented
measures. economic intervention will
to deliver doubtless want to step up and
We propose three key actions donate as soon as they are able to
necessary to deliver 100,000 a five-year do so. We are optimistic that many
Homes for Heroes over the next hundreds of millions of pounds in
five years. programme additional funding could be found
this way.
of Homes for
1 - Make Heroes
We believe there is a strong case
to take this opportunity to invest in
available precision manufactured homes on
a scale not seen since the original
additional While the initial phases of this
Homes Fit for Heroes programme.
A commitment to manufacturing
proposal could be funded through
funding to government matching housing
many tens of thousands of new
homes nationally would ensure
association funding, there are a
immediately range of options that should be
the highest quality in design and
manufacturing, and reduce the
used to reduce the burden on the
create public purse, which has already
construction costs significantly.
These higher quality homes would
committed an unprecedented
Homes for level of funding combatting the
come with reduced maintenance
costs, which could increase
coronavirus crisis.
Heroes Firstly, we anticipate that
the contribution that housing
associations could make.
businesses and people around A longer-term programme would
the country will want to say thank align with the ethos of housing
It will take time to scale-up to
you to our essential workers associations as long-term
deliver the number of homes
directly. The incredible efforts of investors in place. This would
that will be needed but there are
Colonel Tom Moore6 show the support high quality buildings,
many essential workers who need
depth of society’s commitment environments and services –
an affordable home now. There
to supporting our heroes. Homes supporting the success of the
should be an immediate response
for Heroes should be supported heroes living in the homes.
to make available completed or
by a major fund-raising effort.
nearly completed homes.
The fund should be open to 4. Molior London, 2020.
5. ibid.
There are currently 3,800 donations from corporate and 6. https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/
completed unsold homes public sponsors. Civil society tomswalkforthenhs, 2020.
in London4 and another should lead a national campaign
28,700 unsold homes under for donations, offering us all the
construction,5 some of which chance to directly contribute to
will be nearly completed. The this collective effort to house
economic uncertainty caused by our heroes in safe, secure and
the coronavirus is likely to mean affordable homes.
10 G15 - Homes for Heroes G15 - Homes for Heroes 11would hopefully incentivise other forever available for heroes, and
Trusts to bring forward their own this in turn would reduce the cost
3 - Take surplus car parks or surrounding of the land.
land at similar pace. This could
radical steps allow for many thousands of There is not enough publicly
owned land to deliver all of the
additional homes near to existing
to make NHS hospitals and other places of homes that heroes need. The
release of additional land will
work.
sufficient Public land in London has
require flexibility in the planning
system.
land been estimated to have the
capacity to build 130,000 new Using land near transport links in
available for homes.7 Currently, councils and
government departments need
London will be of enormous help
to emergency services workers
the delivery to get “best value” when disposing
of assets, but best value should
and healthcare workers who
might currently be priced out of
of Homes for not mean best price. If this value
recognised the importance of
owning or renting a suitable home
in London. The current crisis has
Heroes in the building homes for our heroes
then it could be made available to
shown the importance of key
workers being able to live near
long-run support a large-scale programme,
delivered by housing associations.
their place of work.
7. Mayor of London, 2016.
If the Treasury removed the
restriction on public bodies to
Adequate funding makes homes get best market value on land
theoretically deliverable but to sold, and government went even
actually build them there will also further by giving guidelines to
need to be sufficient land, in the public bodies to prioritise land
right places at the right prices. for sale to housing associations
planning to build Homes for
More homes could be delivered Heroes, we could unleash huge
faster if public landowners played a untapped capacity to give our key
significant part in the programme. workers the homes they deserved.
London North West University In particular, there will be huge
Healthcare NHS Trust has taken a benefits to NHS Trusts, TfL, and
proactive approach to identifying government departments who
surplus land for development release land in this way, because
which has unlocked land for their own staff could benefit.
almost 1,800 new homes in the
London Borough of Brent over When selling land in this way, it
the last few years. The prospect could be sold with a covenant
of delivering Homes for Heroes to ensure that the homes are
12 G15 - Homes for Heroes G15 - Homes for Heroes 13References
Centre for Economics and
Business Research, Peabody, &
CBI (2016); The Business Case
for Affordable Housing; Centre
for Economics and Business
Research.
Department of Education, UK
Government (2020); Guidance
or schools, childcare providers,
colleges and local authorities
in England on maintaining
Conclusion educational provision;
Department of Education.
Farquharson, Cristine et al
(2020); Key workers – key facts
and questions; Institute for Fiscal
Studies.
We believe the time is
GLA & G15 (2019); The 2022-
right to have a national 2032 Affordable Housing Funding
conversation on how to Requirement for London; Greater
repay the debt society London Authority.
owes our heroes. As well JustGiving (2020); Captain Tom
as standing ready to play Moore’s 100th Birthday Walk for
the NHS; JustGiving.
our part in delivering
these homes, the G15 are Mayor of London (2016); City Hall
produces first register of public
also keen to engage with land in London; Greater London
other organisations with Authority.
proposals to repay that Molior London (2020); Build to
debt in other ways. Rent and Build to Sell.
The National Housing Federation Office for National Statistics
is exploring with its members and (2019); Annual net additional
national partners – including the dwellings and components; ONS.
relevant parts of government – Urwin, Peter et al (2016);
how we harness the power of Estimating the Value
the original Homes for Heroes of Discounted Rental
campaign for a new era. Accommodation for London’s
A hundred years ago we promised ‘Squeezed’ Key Workers; Dolphin
returning heroes the homes Square Foundation.
they deserve. Safe, secure and
affordable homes as a base from
which our society could begin
to rebuild, and eventually again
thrive. Today’s heroes deserve
this too.
14 G15 - Homes for Heroes G15 - Homes for Heroes 15Social rent
Annex
In London, social rented homes are likely to be the only housing option affordable on incomes up
to £31,600 per annum (an average London nurse’s salary). People earning more than that should
Affordability modelling be able to comfortably afford the below discounted rent option. The monthly rent levels and how
this would be affordable to people on lower incomes are set out below.
Bedrooms Monthly rent Proportion of net income for employee on the
London Living Wage10
1 £634 42%
2 £671 45%
3 £709 47%
Discounted rent
The proposed discounted rent option has been calculated on the basis of 40% of the post-tax
income of an average London nurse. For one-bedroom homes this has been reduced by 10%
and for three-bedroom homes increased by 10%. Although we’ve used nurses’ take-home pay to
calculate affordable rents, these homes should be available to any key worker who earns a similar
professional wage. The monthly rent levels and how this would be affordable to people on median
incomes are set out below.
Bedrooms Monthly rent Proportion of net income for employee on the mean
Outer London nurse’s salary
1 £743 36%
2 £826 40%
3 £908 43%
Part buy, part low rent
As is normal for shared ownership, the household would decide what share of the home to buy
initially and pay a deposit and mortgage on that amount, and would pay a subsidised rent of 2.75%
per year of the unsold equity. This option would be affordable to heroes with a household income
of around £40,000 a year but in London heroes with household incomes of up to £80,000 a year
(equivalent to two Band 6 Nurses) could struggle to own a home of their own and therefore need
the shared ownership option.
Having this type of home in the Homes for Heroes programme would help to meet even more
housing need in the long run, because when households staircase (buy additional shares in their
home), the receipts could be reinvested to build even more homes for heroes. The monthly costs
and how this would be affordable to people on dual median NHS incomes are set out below.
Bedrooms Assumed Deposit Monthly rent Proportion of net income for household
house price 11
requirement 12
plus mortgage 13
on two Outer London nurses’ salaries
1 £328,000 £8,200 £932 22%
2 £409,000 £10,225 £1,162 28%
3 £475,000 £11,875 £1,349 32%
10. Assuming 37.5 hours a week. NB - 11. Assumed sales values are taken from 13. Assuming a 25% initial share, a 25
depending on the household, workers GLA & G15, 2019. year mortgage, and an interest rate of
may receieve other benefits which would 12. Taken from the GLA’s shared 2.5%.
make these proportions fall significantly. ownership affordability calculator.
16 G15 - Homes for Heroes G15 - Homes for Heroes 17About the G15
The G15 is the group of the capital. We build a quarter of we make is reinvested in building
all London’s new homes and own more affordable homes and
London’s largest housing
or manage more than 600,000 delivering services for our
associations. We’re the homes. residents.
collective voice of some of Housing associations were set Each G15 member is different,
the leading organisations up to support people in housing but we’re all striving towards the
in the housing sector. need and this remains at the same goal – to solve the capital’s
heart of everything we do today. housing crisis and improve the
Our members house one in ten lives of Londoners.
Londoners and are the largest We’re independent, charitable
providers of affordable homes in organisations and all the money
18 G15 - Homes for Heroes G15 - Homes for Heroes 19Reuben Young,
Rosa Payne and
Antrim Ross
Designed by
Charlotte Blackburn and
Justin Pearce Neudorf
www.G15.london
G15@networkhomes.org.uk
@G15LondonYou can also read
