On 14^th March G15 Chair, Geeta Nanda, spoke at the New Statesman Future Generations Conference in central London. Geeta’s panel was titled The homes of the future: How can we ensure that everyone in the UK has access to safe, decent, and affordable homes and discussed the challenges younger people experience in access social and affordable housing as well as getting onto the property ladder.

Alongside Geeta on the panel was Conservative MP and Chair of the All-Party Group on Housing & Planning, David Simmonds and the Founder of The Black Economists Network and Economist at the Resolution Foundation, Felicia Odamtten. The panel was Chaired by the New Statesman Business Editor, Will Dunn.

During the discussion, Geeta was keen to press the importance of housing as a source of stability and security for people and not just a commodity. She referred to MTVH’s 2022 Housing Futures report which highlighted how many young people are putting off life decisions and experiencing anxiety as a result of housing insecurity.

There was general agreement amongst the panel on the challenges younger people are experiencing with regards to accessing the property ladder and high rents across the private rental sector. David Simmonds was also keen to stress the need for a better planning system to help to increase housing supply with Felicia Odamtten highlighting the importance of wide-ranging economic growth to improve the housing prospects for younger people. Geeta and Felicia both agreed that the quality of new homes is equally as important as putting a roof over people’s heads.

The session concluded with suggestions as to how we can tackle the challenges we currently face. There was agreement across the panel that innovative solutions are required with Geeta also highlighting the need for greater flexibility for local authorities in terms of their Right to Buy receipts and the need to explore how to bring down the costs of modern methods of construction.