Embargoed until 10.00, 25/1/05, Check Against Delivery

NHF CHIEF EXECUTIVES' CONFERENCE
TUESDAY 25 JANUARY 2005

JON ROUSE, CEO, HOUSING CORPORATION

Good morning. I am scheduled this morning to talk generally about organisational leadership but clearly we have been overtaken by events. With the publication of the 5 year Housing Plan yesterday I want to focus on some of the key elements of the Plan and the likely implications for the sector.

The publication of the Plan when combined with the final passage of the Housing Act 2004, the outcomes of the Spending Review and the pre-budget statement provide us with a pretty comprehensive platform for the next few years of activity. While the election manifestos will no doubt reach further, the Housing Corporation's forthcoming three year corporate strategy will be based quite strictly on the 5 Year Plan.

Fundamentally, the Five Year Plan can only be understood in the context of the earlier Sustainable Communities Plan. The overarching aim of the Deputy Prime Minister is to promote new communities and improve existing communities in a way that is sustainable in economic, social and environmental terms. The 5 Year Plan is about improving housing policy's contribution to that goal, both in relation to growth and renewal requirements.

There is a lot of material in the Plan that I am not going to have time to cover this morning but will need your attention. This includes the extension of the Density Direction to the Eastern and South Western regions and further environmental measures including our own commitment to move to a requirement of 'Very Good' Eco-Homes Standard in the next ADP funding round. There is also English Partnerships new low cost home design competition that I am sure will interest many of you.

However, I am going to focus on three main themes from the Plan in some detail:

- the Government's desire to extend asset ownership by providing existing tenants with an opportunity to own their own home

- the review of the remainder of the low cost home ownership portfolio including the potential of attracting more private finance

- the drive to reduce the number of households living in temporary accommodation while also extending greater choice to prospective and existing tenants.

Over the last few months, the Government has been picking a difficult path between its desire to provide tenants with access to asset ownership and the recognition that we must maintain an adequate supply of social rented housing at a time of intense housing need. The resulting proposed package is called 'Choice to Own' and comprises four choices for tenants:

- where there is an existing right, the right to purchase outright through Right to Buy and Right Acquire, albeit of course under the more restricted discount regime

- revised arrangements for current Shared Ownership and Homebuy schemes with priority access for existing social tenants

- an extension to Homebuy offering extra help for those who want to buy their existing home

- more help to buy a home on the open market

The most radical of these measures is clearly the extension of Homebuy to existing homes.

The first thing to make clear is that in respect of properties without a right to buy or acquire, this is a voluntary scheme. The onus will be on housing associations to bring forward proposals but there will be direct encouragement from Government to apply it as widely as possible. Indeed, I think we should be under no illusion that we need to make strong collective efforts to ensure it works.

The Government will consult on the detail of the scheme before Easter and will be consulting extensively with the sector before then.

However, we already know the essentials.

Where the scheme applies, tenants will be able to buy between a half and three quarters share in their own home, increasing the share as they feel ready, and potential