Hyde boss welcomes 70k homes pledge but calls for more action

“The country desperately needs more genuinely affordable and good quality homes, and we welcome the government’s commitment to supporting us in meeting this challenge. As a not-for-profit housing provider that owns or manages around 130,000 homes and provides neighbourhood services to around 350,000 homes, we see the impact on people every single day of not having a permanent home through the uncertainty and anxiety it causes.  

"Today’s funding rightly supports a significant increase in new homes for social rent, which we strongly welcome. It's good news for those people in need of a home, for communities looking to thrive and for growth in the wider economy. 

"We're pleased to have been appointed as a strategic partners to Homes England to help deliver the new homes this funding will support. 

"The focus on delivering through housing associations and local councils will support better partnerships and help to move tens of thousands of children and their family’s out of temporary accommodation. Hyde is unique in that it works right across the country and and offers a fully integrated service, meaning that we have development teams, asset management teams and housing managers, so we do everything from cleaning the windows to building the foundations. It’s right that local councils should play a full role in tackling the housing crisis and we have strong relationships with many local authorities up and down the country, already supporting them in delivery and regeneration. 

"As one of the largest delivery partners for affordable homes across London and the South East, we’re already live on site delivering 7,000 new homes. Today’s announcement will support us to deliver over 2,250 additional homes outside London.  We’re working with partners to go even further and look forward to the Greater London Authority's announcement of its allocations in due course.  

"Government funding will always play an important role in delivering affordable homes, but there’s more that can be done to bring in the right long-term investment to help do more, more quickly. Hyde remains at the forefront of this innovation and today’s announcement will support those efforts further. 

"We also need to be clear that allocating the remaining funding and continuing to work to remove barriers to deliver, such as delays in the planning system and giving charitable providers like Hyde long-term certainty and appropriate resources, remain vitally important." 

“That said, the biggest crisis we do have in this country is around affordable housing and temporary accommodation. And, for the first time, we have a Prime Minister who is keeping this on the front pages each week. There is not a vulnerable household or person in the country that would not benefit from high-quality, affordable housing.”