The summit hosted today (Thursday 6th March) by Sheffield City Council at the city’s prestigious Cutler’s Hall marked one year since the coalition began. Thank you to sponsors Campbell Tickell, Fortem and Rider Levett Bucknall for their support of this important event.
Initially featuring 20 of the largest social landlords in the country, the campaign has now expanded to more than 100 local authorities joined together.
The Minister of State for Housing and Planning Matthew Pennycook MP was among the keynote speakers for the event as the coalition came together to discuss what Is immediately needed to improve social housing nationwide.
The coalition, led by Southwark Council, believes that – without changes – the future of England’s council housing is at risk. An unsustainable financial model and erratic national policy changes for many years have squeezed budgets and sent costs soaring.
It believes our communities need more decent, affordable and secure homes, but council housing budgets have been pushed to the brink. Financial pressures mean that councils across the country are now struggling to maintain their homes, let alone build new ones.
In September last year (2024), the coalition published a report on how to secure the future of council housing that included five solutions signatories wished to see implemented.
The coalition is now calling on the government’s new housing strategy to include:
- A new, sustainable Housing Revenue Agreement – a reset to our broken council housing financing deal with government
- A Green & Decent Homes Programme – a new, bold national programme for all social homes to reach one clear standard, backed by sufficient funding
- Funding for new council homes – a sufficient and flexible capital funding programme that prioritises council homes
Today's summit looked to progress those aims:
- To foster deeper commitment among partner councils and wider housing stakeholders to collaborate and share expertise
- To equip those councils with a unified and effective advocacy strategy to shape government policy, engage media, and gain support from MPs, amplifying the coalition’s influence
- To use data, case studies, and insights to inform our national policy recommendations
The summit included a mix of sessions with Q&As and interactive breakout discussions designed to encourage collaboration, knowledge sharing, and building consensus on the next steps.
As well as Matthew Pennycook MP, other keynote speakers included host authority Sheffield City Council’s Leader, Cllr Tom Hunt, as well as the Leader of coalition lead authority Southwark Council – Cllr Kieron Williams.
“Council homes transform lives. We are proud to host this important summit in Sheffield which will see councils coming together to continue our work to secure the future of council housing in England.
“The government has taken extremely significant, positive action to support councils to improve the quantity and quality of council housing. Councils have a key role to play in tackling the housing crisis and we look forward to continuing our positive work together with the government to ensure everyone has a safe, secure and good quality home that they are proud of.”
Cllr Tom Hunt, Leader of Sheffield City Council
“Council homes are at the heart of our society, they offer the security people need to live healthy, safe and successful lives and they are the answer to solving the housing crisis.“As councils are forced to spend millions on temporary accommodation every day, it is clear that our communities desperately need more of the truly affordable and secure homes that council housing offers. Here in Southwark, we have been leading the way in building new council homes, starting our 3,000th this year. But like so many councils, our programme has been forced to slow.
“Cuts to our income and soaring costs have undermined our agreement with government and left a huge gap in our housing budgets. However, councils will play a critical role in reaching the government’s ambition for 1.5 million new homes. I was blown away that over 100 councils from across England joined us to publish our plan to save council housing, and I am delighted that so many are here in Sheffield as we progress our plans to deliver new and better council homes for our residents.”
Cllr Kieron Williams, Leader of Southwark Council