Archbishop calls for ‘coalition’ with housing associations

The “endless decline” of impoverished parts of the country could be halted and reversed by the building of a “great coalition” between the Church of England and housing associations, the Archbishop of Canterbury has said.

The Most Rev Justin Welby said housing associations were the “envy of most of the voluntary sector” and praised how they had “quietly” taken on the strain for many community-based services as the Government has “withdrawn” from many areas as a result of austerity measures.

In a rallying call arguing for greater co-operation across the sector, he said housing associations had successfully created “strong and supportive communities” and shared many goals with the Church to build up “resilience” among the people living in those areas.

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Mr Welby said building “great partnerships and coalitions” was the only answer to helping the most deprived in the wake of the severe economic downturn, and said it could take “a generation” of hard work for the real results to be known.

In a speech at the National Housing Federation’s conference in Birmingham, he did not rule out the possibility that church funding could also be used to help in particular areas, such as supporting housing for the elderly.

The Archbishop told delegates that church groups also “had volunteers of the kind of people you need and of the motivation you require”.

He said he knew there was “some anxiety” within housing associations to closer working with religious groups but assured delegates it would be “a great way forward”.

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Any partnership could challenge the “ridiculous belief” in some quarters that there were some deprived areas which were simply beyond saving, and were instead in “managed decline”, he added.

“We can say it is possible to reinvent regeneration,” he said.