Tag: Matthew Pennycook

The speech made by Matthew Pennycook, the Housing and Planning Minister, in Liverpool on 9 September 2026.

Thank you for that introduction Kirsty and good morning everyone.

It is a privilege to take part in this year’s Housing Community Summit, and I extend my sincere thanks to the National Housing Federation and the Chartered Institute of Housing for inviting me to do so.

It is also a real pleasure to be back in Liverpool – a city region with a hugely ambitious regeneration pipeline and a strong commitment to maximising social and affordable housing delivery. I commend and thank Steve Rotherham and Liam Robinson for their continued leadership in this area.

Our housing market is resilient, and I have no doubt that it will not take long to recover, but as this audience knows only too well, these are tough times for housebuilding in England.

Margins continue to be squeezed by a combination of factors including a sharp reduction in interest cover and a significant increase in building materials costs – not least owing to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

The resulting viability challenges are affecting every part of the country, with pressures particularly acute in some housing markets.

As councils and housing associations seek to take forward ambitious development programmes, they are having to cope not only with challenges in relation to site viability but also those arising from the pressing need to improve the safety and quality of the homes they already manage.

The government is asking a lot from the sector, and we appreciate fully the difficult balancing act involved in seeking to build new social and affordable housing at scale while also improving the decency of existing stock.

That is why, throughout the 26 months that this government has been in office, we’ve striven to work in close partnership with you, listening carefully to what you have told us you need to deliver your social purpose, and doing as much as we possibly can to accommodate your asks.

I intend to argue today that we have made significant progress since coming to office just over two years ago, but that much more can and will be done in the years ahead to ensure councils and housing associations, alone and, I hope, in deepening partnership, can flourish and play their full part in the decade of social and affordable housing renewal that this government remains determined to deliver.

It is a natural human habit to bank what you have, take it for granted and ask for more, but I want to begin by reminding you all just how far we have come over the past two years and two months.

It is almost three years to the day that I gave a keynote speech at the NHF’s National Housing Summit in Birmingham as the then Shadow Housing and Planning Minister.

I remember well the general air of polite scepticism that greeted my speech and the series of bold commitments it contained:

To enhance compulsory purchase powers.

To provide long-term rent policy certainty.

To overhaul the Right to Buy Scheme to better protect existing social housing stock.   

To deliver a marked increase in affordable housing supply.

And to prioritise social rented homes.

As you all know, we have not only fulfilled those promises, we have gone much, much further.

When it comes to grant funding, we’ve made the biggest investment in social and affordable housing in living memory – a £39 billion pound 10-year Social and Affordable Homes Programme with a target to deliver at least 60% of homes as Social Rent; a target that I’m delighted to say we are on course to exceed in the first wave of allocations announced a fortnight ago.

When it comes to rebuilding the sector’s capacity to borrow and invest in new and existing homes, we’ve not only secured a 10-year social housing rent settlement at CPI+1% but also Social Rent convergence; equal access to government remediation funding schemes for social landlords; and £2.5 billion of low-interest loans over this Spending Review period.

When it comes to reinvigorating council housebuilding, we’ve not only returned Right to Buy maximum cash discounts to pre-2012 levels and allowed councils to keep 100% of Right to Buy receipts, but through our Social Housing Bill we are taking forward a comprehensive and radical package of reforms to Right to Buy that will give councils the confidence they need to increase the delivery of new council homes.

And when it comes to providing regulatory clarity and certainty, whether through our updated Decent Homes Standard, our new Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards or the implementation of Awaab’s Law, we have sought to ensure that standards are proportionate as well as ambitious with implementation timelines that will allow social landlords to boost housing supply at the same time as driving up the quality of the homes they manage.

Taken together, these measures have laid the foundations for that decade of social and affordable housing renewal we are so determined to deliver.

I’ve dwelt on them at some length because as we look to the future, it is important to acknowledge that the outlook for the sector has been utterly transformed over the past 26 months as a result of the decisions taken by this [political content removed] government.

Yet, notwithstanding what has been achieved, I know that councils and housing associations across the country want and need more support and more funding to deliver the high-quality homes and services that residents and communities need.

I also recognise that we issued a “call to arms” to everyone with a role in social and affordable housing to step up and demonstrate they could deliver at scale and at pace, and that precisely because the positive response has been so overwhelming we have not been able to give everyone what they asked for.

This is particularly true when it comes to our Social and Affordable Homes Programme.

As you know, a fortnight ago, we confirmed that Homes England is allocating just over £9.5 billion pounds to 33 Strategic Partners to deliver over 70,000 social and affordable homes outside London, with the Greater London Authority set to offer allocations of at least £6 billion in the capital.

Sadly, the sum total of bids received by Homes England and the GLA dwarfed the amount of funding we had available to allocate in this initial wave.

But with £39 billion of funding available over the lifetime of the Programme there is over £16 billion of funding outside London and around £5 billion in London still yet to allocate.

This includes funding in each year of this Spending Review period up to 2030 and significant sums in the second half of the Programme. 

In allocating this funding, we have made clear we intend to prioritise social rented homes and in particular council homes.

But I want to stress again that funding will also be available for other providers.

With that in mind, I reiterate our call to partners to come forward with strong bids in respect of specific sites, and Homes England stands ready to work intensively with you to exhaust all options. 

I want to say a little more about council housebuilding given the emphasis our new Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, has rightly placed on it.

Direct council delivery of Social Rent homes does have a range of benefits, including democratic accountability, the ability to tailor provision to meet local housing need, and the creation of public assets that generate rental income which is reinvested in local housing to support and sustain communities.

It is also simply a fact that the last time we built social housing on the scale that is now required, councils were the driving force, delivering tens of thousands of social homes each year until building rates fell off dramatically from the early 1980s onwards as a result of the constraints and restrictions created by the introduction of the Right to Buy scheme. 

It is for these reasons that we are determined to enable councils to once again build at scale and we know that hundreds of them share our ambition to secure the future of council housing. 

The steps we have taken since arriving in office to reinvigorate council housebuilding, including providing tens of millions of pounds to increase skills and capacity within councils, have already borne fruit.

In 2024/25, councils delivered the highest number of social homes since the current reporting period began in the early 1990s.

I am also delighted that for the first time ever, three councils outside London have been awarded Strategic Partnership status with Homes England, namely Cambridge City Council, Eastleigh Borough Council and Newcastle City Council.

But we need to go much further.

The Prime Minister, the Secretary of State and I are determined to deliver the biggest council housebuilding programme since the post-war boom ended in the early 1980s.

To that end, we are actively exploring further ways we might support councils to expand their stock of social homes, including low-cost borrowing options, and we’ve made clear that councils will be able to access more of the funding available through our Social and Affordable Homes Programme.

Now, I can well imagine that having registered the renewed emphasis that the government is placing on council housebuilding, many housing associations and other providers may be questioning what it means for them.

Let me reassure anyone who is in any doubt that private registered providers will continue to play a key role in the delivery of social and affordable homes.

We value immensely all that you do to help meet housing need and we are relying on you to continue to progress ambitious development plans, not only delivering grant funded homes but also maximising homes built through Section 106 – drawing on the recently published National S106 Affordable Housing Engagement Guidance developed jointly by the NHF, CIH, HBF, and the LGA.

And for any housing association or other provider that is concerned about their future in a world in which councils are once again building at scale, let me state plainly that the revival of council housebuilding that this government is working to deliver should complement not threaten the contribution you make.

Indeed, we want to encourage greater partnership working between councils and housing associations whether that be through forming Joint Ventures, aligning development plans, delivering new council homes through partnership models, or working more closely on allocations.

Our ambition is to harness the potential of everyone across the sector, and we want to hear your ideas about what effective partnership working looks like and what more government and Mayoral Strategic Authorities can do to support it.

I believe passionately that good housing is the foundation of a flourishing life.

Decent, safe, secure and affordable homes provide a platform for families to live, grow, and build better lives.

They make for stronger, healthier and happier communities.

Everyone, everyone, deserves to have one.

Yet, as we all know, far too many families in need are still languishing on social housing waiting lists, struggling in the private rented sector or in expensive temporary accommodation as a result, and driving up rents and the housing benefit bill in the process.

That is why this [political content removed] government committed in its manifesto to delivering the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation; to prioritising the building of new social rented homes; and to supporting councils and housing associations to build their capacity and make a greater contribution to affordable housing supply.

Over the past two years, we have strained every sinew to faithfully honour those commitments.

The steps we have taken today have made a real difference, with affordable starts up by 26% last year, and the highest number of social rent starts since 20101.

But there is more to be done in the coming months and years to finish the job we have started.

Whether council, housing association or other provider, we cannot do it without you.

I very much look forward to continuing to work with you all as we deliver that decade of social and affordable housing renewal and in so doing ensure that all our people enjoy a decent, safe, secure, and affordable home in which to live.

Thank you for listening.

The speech made by Matthew Pennycook, the Housing Minister, in Leeds on 19 May 2026.

[This is the version issued by the Ministry of Housing with two small sections of political content redacted]

Thank you for that kind introduction and good morning, ladies and gentlemen – it is a pleasure to join you here in Leeds.

Since its launch four years ago, UKREiiF has gone from strength to strength.

It is now a catalyst for significant investment and growth, generating economic activity in every part of the country including this growing and fast, dynamic city, and the wider West Yorkshire region.

As a domestic forum for discussion, networking and deal making between investors, developers and local authorities looking to shape the future of our towns, cities and regions, it is now unrivalled.

And for those looking to attract global capital, and, dare I say it, government ministers whose diaries don’t always lend themselves to intense four-day events in the Mediterranean, it arguably now surpasses its overseas rivals.

I want to thank everyone involved in organising this annual event, including the City Council and various partners, for all they have done to make it the success that it is.

I’m here at UKREiiF today to discuss what more can be done to secure investment; drive regeneration; and accelerate development in every part of the country.

To exchange views about how together, we can tackle the housing crisis, support economic growth and ensure that the real estate, property and infrastructure sectors flourish.

And I come with a simple message: this [Political content removed] government arrived in office with a bold and comprehensive plan to build the homes and infrastructure the country needs.

We are faithfully executing that plan.

It is beginning to bear fruit.

And while the headwinds are undoubtedly growing stronger, we are going to stay the course and finish the job.

Uninformed critics will no doubt decry my reference to stronger headwinds as an attempt to deflect blame for early falls in housing delivery that I can assure all of you were fully expected and anticipated in opposition.

But everyone in this room will know that the very real challenges that the sector has experienced over recent years – rising interest rates, significant increases in building materials costs, and dampened buyer demand – have been exacerbated by the global turbulence of recent months.

I want you to know that the Secretary of State and I are acutely aware of the more uncertain environment in which you are now operating.

We also appreciate that your present challenges follow a series of housing market downturns, the scars of which your cash reserves, supply chains and project pipelines still bear.

Where compatible with our objectives as a government, we remain committed to doing everything we can to reduce development risks and associated transaction costs so that you can get on and build.

But it is only together that we can successfully navigate these tumultuous times, working in partnership to create a housing system that is more resilient to economic shocks of the kind produced by the conflict in the Gulf.

The case for fundamentally transforming the housing system that we inherited is unarguable.

By any metric, it has been an abject failure.

As I’ve argued many times, in many different parts of the country: the crisis of housing availability, affordability and quality that that system has produced is blighting lives and hampering economic growth and productivity.

That is why, as a government, we set ourselves the task of reforming this failing system root and branch.

Over recent days, I’ve listened with some amusement to colleagues claim that we arrived in government underprepared and lacking clarity of vision and direction.

When it comes to housing and planning, nothing could be further from the truth.

We used every waking moment in opposition to develop a bold and comprehensive plan – one that over the past twenty-two and a half months has allowed us to undertake the most rapid, holistic and radical overhaul of the housing and planning system in decades.

Within six months of taking office, you will know that we published a revised National Planning Policy Framework.

Through it, we restored and raised mandatory housing targets; strengthened brownfield land policy; and introduced a modernised, strategic approach to Green Belt land designation and release.

The Office for Budget Responsibility have estimated that these changes alone will boost GDP by £6.8 billion by 2029/30 and will lead to the highest level of housebuilding in 40 years.

In December last year, we built on those initial revisions, publishing for consultation a wholly restructured Framework.

This modified NPPF incorporates new clear and rules-based national policies for both plan and decision-making and includes new policies such as a permanent presumption in favour of suitably located development and a “default yes” for suitable proposals that develop land around rail stations.

In the same month, our landmark Planning and Infrastructure Act received Royal Assent.

This Act is already enabling us to speed up and streamline the delivery of new homes and critical infrastructure, not least by allowing the dismissal of legal challenges to DCOs that are ‘totally without merit’.  

Once we have switched on the Act in its entirety, including overhauling the consenting process for critical infrastructure; our new Nature Restoration Fund; new mechanisms for cross-boundary strategic planning; and the modernisation of planning committees, we estimate that this single piece of legislation could boost GDP by up to £7.5 billion over the next decade.

Having received the final report of the independent New Towns Taskforce in September last year, we launched a public consultation in March on our proposed New Towns Programme.

The large-scale new communities that this will create will make a significant contribution to meeting housing need across England and support economic growth by releasing the productive potential of our constrained towns and cities.

The programme is an integral part of our plans to boost innovation, quality and competition in housebuilding.

Given the critical importance of boosting the supply of social and affordable housing for meeting housing need, sustaining the wider development pipeline and supporting timely build out, we have delivered the biggest boost to grant funding in a generation through our £39 billion Social and Affordable Homes Programme and we’ve given Registered Providers the regulatory certainty and stability they need to quickly ramp up investment in existing and new stock.

And that is not all.

On arriving in office, we quickly established a New Homes Accelerator that has helped remove blockages and speed up the building of over 130,000 homes across England…

We have created a new, permanent National Housing Bank backed by £16 billion of new financial capacity…

We are putting in place a new plan-making system and taking concerted action to drive up local plan coverage…

We are progressing a range of policy and regulatory easements to help small and medium sized housebuilders thrive and grow and thereby diversify our housebuilding market…

We have allocated almost £100 million of investment to support local planning authorities with capacity and capability…

We have invested over £600 million in training tens of thousands of new construction workers.

We’re reforming the Building Safety Regulator established by the previous government to improve its operations and processes.

I could easily go on ladies and gentlemen.

My point in reeling off this long list is a simple one: no government in living memory has done more to tackle the country’s housing and infrastructure deficit than the one I am proud to be a member of.

While much has been done, there obviously remains much more to do as we strive to hit our incredibly stretching target of 1.5 million new homes in this Parliament.

We do need to finalise a range of legislative and policy measures.

We have to publish a final, revised NPPF, and we will do so this summer.

We have to bring into force our new National Scheme of Delegation, and we will lay the required regulations in the coming weeks.

We have to consult on the first of our Environmental Delivery Plans concerning nutrient pollution and we will do so in the coming months.

We must reform the role of statutory consultees in the planning system, and we will announce the outcome of our consultation on this matter before the summer recess.

Yet, the focus of my Department has now turned very firmly towards ensuring the new system delivers.

Among other things that means a renewed emphasis on removing ‘grit’ from the planning process to ensure that the application journey is as fast and easy as possible, and it also means a greater focus on what more we can do to support consented sites that are struggling.

Our New Homes Accelerator will play a crucial role in this effort.

It has already unblocked and accelerated the delivery of scores of large sites that were encountering significant delays or obstacles – providing planning advice, technical assistance, and brokering across government, including with stat cons.

To take just two examples:

At Hampden Fields in Buckinghamshire, engagement with the Environment Agency through the NHA enabled all flood risk activity permits to be promptly issued and the first homes are now being occupied.

At Langley in the West Midlands, the NHA provided funding for technical support for site design that will enable the project to deliver homes more efficiently.

Across the country, the NHA is currently supporting 28 sites, and we’ve expanded the scope of the sites that it can now support.

New sites, like Northwest Sittingbourne in Kent and Benthall Grange in Shropshire, are continuously being added and the NHA online portals remain permanently open for any projects that might require support.

Homes England, as the government’s principal housing delivery arm, also has a critical role to play in accelerating development and ramping up housing supply.

Under the leadership of Pat Ritchie and Amy Rees, it is delivering.

In the last financial year, the Agency supported the completion of over 40,000 homes and leveraged £22.6 billion of private sector investment.

Under its new regional operating model, it is working more closely than ever with local leaders to support housing delivery including Richard and our partners in the West Midlands who will launch the Birmingham East Mayoral Development Corporation at this event later this morning.

The Agency is also integral to the delivery of important initiatives such as our Small Sites Aggregator and building on the pilots in Bristol, Lewisham, and Sheffield, I am pleased today to confirm its national rollout.

The initiative will unlock dormant, unviable small brownfield sites and through the forging of new partnerships between the public and private sector will attract investment to use them to build 10,000 social rent homes a year.

And to further support communities build new homes and drive innovation, I can announce today that we are working with 23 ambitious local authorities to co-develop a pattern book of standard house designs which we intend to publish by the end of the year.

These designs will help unlock economies of scale to support investment in MMC, remove barriers for SME developers, and help local authorities deliver homes on small sites they own.

Ladies and gentlemen let me finish by saying this…

As a government, we have been clear that we refuse to accept the stagnation and decline that we were bequeathed.

As a country we enjoy world leading expertise in engineering, construction, planning, design, finance and project management.

We have a well known tendency to downplay our strengths but the quality of some of our placemaking is second to none.

We have it in our power, in other words, to lead the world when it comes to urban development and regeneration.

And yet our full potential remains unfulfilled.

When it comes to housing and infrastructure, unlike [Political content removed], we have been prepared to will the means as well as the ends and to bear the opprobrium of those content with a failing status quo.

But getting Britain building again is not in the gift of ministers alone. Much as I wish it were otherwise.

It requires every part of industry to play its part.

Now we know things are incredibly tough right now.

We want you to be frank with us about the challenges you face, and what might be done to help you overcome them.

If you share our objectives, we want to support you in any way we can. 

But we also need your help because it is only together that we can ensure that our country enjoys high and sustainable rates of housebuilding and world class infrastructure provision in the years ahead.

And I very much look forward to continuing to work with you all in pursuit of that aim.

Thank you for listening.