Grainia Long: housing is essential to building economy

Published by Max Salsbury for 24dash.com in Housing and also in Central Government

Chartered Institute of Housing chief executive Grainia Long has said that housing is essential to building the economy - and should be front and centre of a rebalanced growth strategy for government.

Speaking at the CIH conference in Manchester, Long told delegates: “The government needs to look no further than housing to kick start economic growth.

“Investment in housing has the real potential to be the silver bullet that will stimulate much needed economic growth. If government is serious about growth then it needs to get serious about housing now.”

Long explained in her speech that there is a growing clamour from economic commentators, including the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the EU Commission, that investment in the housing market is great value for money and a key lever of economic growth.  

The biggest advantages of investment in housing, when compared with other infrastructure, is the speed of return and that it doesn’t leak overseas – for every pound worth of investment in construction, £2.84 worth of growth is created for the UK economy, she claimed.

She continued: “The housing industry knows the potential of housing and we are ready to unlock it. We are not sitting back and waiting for government, nor are we consumed with self-interest, this is and must be the decade of sector-led solutions where the whole industry works together.

“We will take this window of opportunity to help put housing front and centre in the next comprehensive spending review and we will demonstrate housing’s contribution to the nation.”