CIH response to the 2025 National Policy Forum consultation – Fixing the foundations to deliver change

High housing costs, poor-quality homes, and a lack of affordability are major drags on household living standards and economic mobility. The Capital Gains report makes clear that the accumulation of housing wealth by 'higher income households (which can include some older households) has come at the expense of those on lower incomes, fuelling intergenerational and regional inequality.

By contrast, investing in affordable and decent housing:

• Reduces poverty and housing-induced hardship
• Frees up disposable income to stimulate local economies
• Enables people to move for work, boosting labour market flexibility.

Crucially, it also supports health and wellbeing. Poor housing is one of the biggest drivers of health inequalities . A safe, warm, affordable home is the first foundation of a healthy life—and reducing pressures on the NHS must start with fixing housing.

Place-based investment in housing and infrastructure can drive inclusive growth. CIH recommends:

• Devolving long-term, flexible housing investment, tied to clear outcomes on affordability, quality, and environmental impact
• Supporting regeneration and retrofit in areas with economic and housing market failure, or that experience multiple deprivation
• Prioritising delivery of affordable and social homes in underinvested regions.

These interventions would reduce geographical inequalities in both opportunity and asset accumulation. New and improved homes in left-behind areas (both urban and rural) can help retain young people, attract business investment, and support inclusive local economies.

CIH supports the government’s modern industrial strategy. As we set out in our response to Invest 2035, housing investment should be treated as infrastructure, with direct links to economic growth, health, and environmental goals.

Tackling inequalities requires a holistic and joined-up approach that integrates housing, infrastructure, health, education, and climate action—ensuring everyone has access to safe, affordable, and good quality homes as part of thriving, sustainable communities.

We recommend:

• Scaling up the Affordable Homes Programme to attract private investment
• Investing in Modern Methods of Construction to boost advanced manufacturing
• Expanding the Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund (formerly Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund) and new Warm Homes: Local Grant to drive supply chains in green jobs
• Prioritising green skills and construction roles in Skills England’s remit
• Supporting retrofit supply chains, including SMEs and social enterprises.

This creates high-quality, place-based jobs while improving the energy performance of homes—supporting the government’s net zero and energy efficiency goals.

We welcome the government’s commitment to overhaul the planning system, but reforms must be strategic (not just faster), support delivery of genuinely affordable homes, and prioritise good quality homes and place-making, not just numbers.

Obstacles still to be addressed include:

• A broken land market that inflates development costs
• A speculative delivery model not geared towards affordability or speed
• Underfunded planning services and blocked infrastructure.

In addition, housing providers—particularly housing associations and local authorities—face acute financial pressures, including rising development costs, inflationary pressures, and the need to invest in existing homes to meet decency, safety, and net zero standards.

These challenges have reduced capacity to deliver new homes. To meet the 1.5 million target, government must help to financially stabilise the sector so it can plan and invest with confidence over the long term.

We recommend:

Setting clear targets for genuinely affordable (social) homes based on local need and boosting social and affordable housing supply through increased grant funding (our submission to the government’s Spending Review calls for £39 billion of investment over five years)

• Reforming Right to Buy and enabling local authorities to build again (the government has consulted on reforms but not yet confirmed its plans)
• Supporting the financial resilience of the housing sector through long-term funding certainty and capital investment in both new and existing homes
• Empowering councils with land assembly powers and planning capacity
• Creating new housing-led regeneration vehicles, building on the New Towns Taskforce.

Delivering 1.5 million homes is not just a number—it must deliver the right homes in the right places, focused on meeting need. (Further information and analysis is set out in our submission to the Spending Review.)

Unlocking development at pace requires:

• New long-term housing and infrastructure strategies that are closely aligned and work in tandem
• Multi-year funding for enabling infrastructure—utilities, roads, schools, green space
• Planning reform and capacity funding for local authorities
• Fast-tracking schemes with strong affordable housing and sustainability outcomes.

Co-locating housing with health, education, and employment hubs should be a core principle. Homes built with local services and infrastructure can support school readiness, reduce transport costs, and promote healthier, greener lifestyles.

Housing inequality mirrors wider structural inequalities. Marginalised groups—including women, Black and minority ethnic people, disabled people, and LGBT+ communities—are more likely to experience insecure, unaffordable, or inaccessible housing.

We urge the government to:

• Embed equality impact assessments into housing funding and planning decisions
• Prioritise investment in supported, specialist, and accessible housing (introduce the requirement for all new homes to be developed to Building Regs Part M 4 (2) without delay)
• Fund domestic abuse services, including safe accommodation
• Improve enforcement of the Equality Act in housing management and lettings.

Stable housing is critical to breaking down barriers to opportunity, particularly for groups historically excluded from secure tenures and asset accumulation. Accessible housing plays a significant role in enabling disabled people to enter and sustain employment. 

Housing is devolved, but the challenges are shared. The government should:

• Respect devolved decision-making while aligning funding objectives
• Co-design delivery plans with devolved administrations and local authorities
• Support joined-up delivery across housing, health, education, energy and transport.

Local authorities are central to delivery. They need autonomy, capacity, and clarity on their role as enablers of homes and places. Housing associations should also be recognised as core anchor institutions that are well-placed to enable successful delivery at scale. 

For more details, read Labour's National Policy Forum

For more information on our response please contact Rachael Williamson, director of policy, communications and external affairs, policyandpractice@cih.org