Last week, Danielle Hughes, Head of Sustainability for Housing (SfH), attended the National Housing Federation (NHF) Housing Finance Conference & Exhibition. Surrounded by like-minded housing leaders, it was a great opportunity to bring the sector together, share insights and tackle the forces shaping housing finance today.
Read Danielle’s key takeaways below:
2026 housing and economic outlook
To truly understand housing finance, we must look at the greater economic picture. In his economic address, Professor David Miles CBE talked through the large spikes in Government spending since the beginning of Covid-19, which have only continued to rise with the Ukraine War and recent conflict in the Middle East. Alongside inflation, higher interest rates, high housing costs and stagnant GDP – the UK’s economy has not recovered as needed after the shocks of the last few years.
What does this mean for housing? As pointed out by Helia Ebrahami, economics editor at Channel 4 news, this uncertainty has reminded us of the importance of shelter “and what it means to belong.” In spite of increasing housing unaffordability, it was optimistic to hear that the long-term situation may be more positive than it currently seems. Housebuilding is projected to increase and AI could significantly boost productivity in the UK, leading to real GDP growth and better outcomes for social housing residents.
Attendees also had the chance to hear (virtually) from Steve Reed, Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, as he discussed the new Social and Affordable Homes Programme (SAHP) 2026 to 2036. The programme is now open for bids and will support the delivery of new social and affordable homes.
Sector finances in focus: Challenges, capacity and building resilience
It was insightful to hear about how the sector’s financial landscape is impacting business planning, borrowing capacity, and long-term resilience for social housing.
David Cleary, SfH board member and Managing Director and Head of Housing at Lloyds Bank, was more optimistic about the state of social housing funding than he was two years ago. Although the past years have been difficult, he emphasised the sector’s resilience, noting that sector debt has remained nominally flat since the pandemic.
David also pointed out that the sector is turning over a new leaf as Government support grows. In addition to the Social and Affordable Homes Programme, Homes England’s new National Housing Bank will significantly accelerate the delivery of new homes. Its recent launch sees £16bn deployed to deliver 500,000 homes – a truly exciting moment for the sector.
What’s next for sustainability reporting standards?
We also heard from SfH’s own Chair, Piers Williamson, who lead a session on the implications of the proposed UK Sustainability Reporting Standards (UK SRS S1 and UK SRS S2) on the sector. The discussion emphasised the importance of collaboration between sustainability and finance teams to produce sustainability outcomes across the social housing sector. The panellists also delved into how providers can use the Sustainability Reporting Standard for Social Housing (SRS) as a strategic tool to align with wider regulatory reporting standards like UK SRS S1 and UK SRS S2.
Piers highlighted that ESG reporting is not only a hygiene factor for attracting investment, but also a tool to help providers tackle some of the biggest issues of the coming decades: climate resilience being one of them.
My closing thoughts
The NHF Housing Finance Conference & Exhibition was a fantastic opportunity to not only meet and engage with current and potential Adopters, old and new colleagues and sector partners – but to witness the sector at its best as it works to deliver more affordable and sustainable homes.
I was reminded of the genuine passion that underpins and fuels our sector. Despite the raft of challenges, there was an air of cautious optimism. The sector has weathered so much over the past 10 years – and remained resilient – and will continue to do so.
