Housing Boss Claims Localism is a Ruse to Stop Investment

The former deputy chief executive of the Housing Corporation has said the government’s localism agenda is a ‘clever formulation’ designed to prevent funding for affordable housing. Neil Hadden, now chief executive of Genesis Housing Group, said: ‘I think localism means setting up local authorities to do the job that to some extent they should have been doing anyway, giving them no resources to do it and no framework, which means obviously local authorities get the blame when nothing happens. ‘Perhaps this is part of this clever formulation by the minister because the government doesn’t really want to spend money on affordable housing anyway, does it? ‘Because, going back to where we were in the 80s, there is a view that people who live in the houses being built don’t vote Tory anyway, or Lib Dem.’ Read more of what Mr Hadden had to say on the Inside Housing website.