‘We need to keep building new homes for Bristolians’

I know that the housing brief is huge, with many competing priorities, but it’s also simple: we need to keep building new homes for Bristolians.

Homes to help people from temporary accommodation into a more secure situation. Homes to reduce the HomeChoice waiting list. Homes to connect communities to wider amenities. Homes to help us address the climate emergency we face.

We are an ambitious administration, aiming to build 2,000 homes a year, 1000 affordable, by 2024 – having already built some 9,000 since 2016.

We continue to innovate to address the housing crisis, with community-led housing, modern methods of construction, reimagining disused garage sites and learning from the Bristol Housing Festival. This includes the proposals around the gap houses in Bell Close, Horfield.

We have many sites that will help us get there, but we can’t do this alone. It will take a city working in partnership. These private sites include those that have been awaiting development for a long time, in some cases decades, which are largely beyond the council’s control. The National Planning Policy Framework can work against us and against local communities.

If government proposals to reform the planning system proceed, communities’ power to influence development will be reduced, with more powers handed to those developers only interested in profit. That said, there are many developers who work with us to improve the city, including our own council-owned company, Goram Homes.

We also need to ensure we consider development through the eyes of the ecological crisis we are facing. That means innovation, challenging our own preconceptions and reimagining how we use space effectively.

It will mean having a constructive discussion about how we protect more green space whilst addressing housing needs. We can do both if we are prepared to accept what that means for alternative options.

What do we mean by affordable? In 2018, the affordable housing practice note was updated setting this out. For people struggling to get by or just about managing, it needs to be affordable within the Local Housing Allowance (which determines maximum entitlement to housing benefit).

We know that without help from family, buying a house is out of reach for many. There is a debate for us to have as a city as to whether shared ownership is a genuine affordable product – those I speak to tell me it helped them get on the housing ladder, which is great to hear.

With the Everyone In scheme concluding, we may see the numbers of those rough sleeping or otherwise homeless, increasing.

Whilst we continue to seek additional funding from the Government to address these issues as at June’s Cabinet meeting, what we need to see nationally is structural change that will allow local authorities to end homelessness, rather than just treat the symptoms.

I am delighted to have joined the advisory group of the Kerslake Commission to support this effort.

The furlough scheme is due to end in the Autumn and the eviction ban ended on June 1. This makes for a dangerous situation that may see a surge in people evicted from their homes.

Renters need and deserve better protection, including to live in houses that are fit for purpose and habitation. This can make a huge difference to a person’s physical and mental health, and why we will continue to pursue licensing schemes to drive up housing standards and pursue prosecution of rogue landlords that do not fulfil their obligations.

I am proud to have played a leading role in the campaign that brought in the evictions ban last year, alongside the End Unfair Evictions campaign to bring an end to Section 21 no-fault evictions, which secured a commitment from the government to consult on this.

I will be continuing to push for an end to Section 21 to give renters greater security. We will be calling on the government for the powers to introduce rent controls and build a Living Rent city.

?️Today @MarvinJRees & @TomRenhard visited the Brooks Dye Works development in St. Werburghs.

?️We are purchasing 24 affordable homes on the site, which will become part of our housing stock, available at a social rent. pic.twitter.com/y6cn80NkWS

— Bristol City Council (@BristolCouncil) July 20, 2021

We will need to make choices about what we prioritise, and it is important communities have their say. We have a review of the HomeChoice system to complete to ensure a fair allocations system that gets more people into appropriate accommodation.

We will ensure our tenant participation structures are fit for purpose. We also have a 30-year business plan focused on our 26,000+ council houses. We will focus on building more council houses, regenerating estates, and increasing maintenance and repairs to ensure homes are brought back into use quickly. We also need to consider retrofitting as part of this, improving energy efficiency to reduce our impact on the environment and help get bills down for residents.

We will also continue to support leaseholders in the city through the campaign to End Our Cladding Scandal. More information can be found here.

These challenges are the tip of the iceberg. Is Bristol up for the challenge? Absolutely, and I am excited to help us get this right and bring communities with us.

Tom Renhard is the cabinet member for housing delivery and homes

Read more: Bristol City Council will miss its affordable housing target