Response to the Queen’s Speech

Mark Perry, Chief Executive of VIVID, said:

“We’re pleased to see the government’s increased focus on the Social Housing White Paper to ensure that consumer standards, resident engagement and involvement continue to remain at the forefront of the sector’s priorities. As part of this focus, it’s encouraging to see changes being made to building safety regulations, but we were disappointed that the proposed amendment to the Fire Safety Bill to protect leaseholders was recently rejected and we understand this will cause uncertainty and frustration for many of our leaseholders.

“We therefore continue our call for the government to review its position on fire remediation costs and to provide further funding for these essential works to take place.

“We hope that the changes to the housing planning rules in England using a zoning system will help us to build more affordable homes at pace and address the housing shortage across the south of England. However, this will only be possible if there’s increased access to funding to support the building of more affordable housing and a heightened focus on place shaping and communities. The supply of truly affordable housing, including social rented housing, continues to be a key issue and there remains a critical shortage.”