Bromford welcome PM’s pledge to tackle social housing stigma

Bromford says it is encouraged by Prime Minister Theresa May’s speech on the future of housing, as she scolded those who still “looked down” on people living in social housing and delivered a direct message to customers, saying: “you are not second-rate citizens”.

The Prime Minister was talking at the National Housing Federation’s (NHF) National Housing Summit in Westminster and called for a change in attitudes towards people living in social housing, saying a certain stigma still existed for many.

“Some residents feel marginalised and overlooked, and are ashamed to share the fact that their home belongs to a housing association or local authority,” she told delegates.

“And on the outside, many people in society – including too many politicians – continue to look down on social housing and, by extension, the people who call it their home.

“I want to see social housing that is so good people are proud to call it their home… Our friends and neighbours who live in social housing are not second-rate citizens.”

Pleasing

The PM also repeated an earlier pledge that a new £2bn fund would be created from 2022 to encourage the creation of tens of thousands of new affordable homes. She maintained that this would enable housing associations to operate with far greater stability through the consolidation of long-term funding deals.

Bromford’s director of strategy John Wade says that although many of the funding pledges were announced earlier this summer, the speech was important symbolically to have a Conservative Prime Minister shining a light on the stigma that still exists for people living in social housing.

“We welcome Prime Minister Theresa May’s latest address and it is pleasing to hear her talk passionately about tackling the clear stigma that people living in social housing still feel, in what we hope is a lasting change in Conservative Government policy on this issue,” John commented.

“Equally pleasing is the Prime Minister speaking positively and reinforcing the importance of investing in the new supply of rented social housing and the acknowledgement that the sector will be able to deliver more of these homes with the right conditions and stability in place.”

He added: “What does remain a concern is Prime Minister May’s position contrasted with the Government’s Social Housing Green Paper released in August which we feel heightened these traditional stigmas through its heavy emphasis on home ownership as the only way to move on in life.”