West Midlands Regional Conference The contribution of strategic housing role to place shaping Dave M

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West Midlands Regional ConferenceThe
contribution of strategic housing role to place
shapingDave Marr Government Office for the
West Midlands
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Content of presentation

• Progress on housing to date
• Key issues for the future
• What we mean by strategic housing role
• How we take things forward.

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What has been achieved so far?

• Housing policies have improved quality of place
  and secured better outcomes for people
• housing supply increased from 130,000 new homes
  in 2001/02 to over 180,000
• PPS3 provides local authorities more flexibility
  in how they plan for housing
• number of non-decent social homes reduced by more
  than 1 million
• over 1 million vulnerable people helped to live
  independently each year through Supporting
  People
• Housing Act 2004 powers have helped to improve
  standards in the private rented sector
• significant reductions in homelessness
• In WM, housing market area partnerships and
  progress on urban renaissance.

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Key themes looking forward

• Responsive services and empowered communities, as
  well as greater devolution to help councils in
  their place shaping role (Local Government White
  Paper)
• Package of measures investment aimed at making
  social housing fairer, more effective personal,
  building on the Hills Report (Yvette Coopers
  speech on 12 December)
• Regulation of social housing to encourage better
  management, tenant voice and tenant empowerment
  (Cave Review Housing Regeneration Bill)
• Joining-up delivery of housing and regeneration,
  and supporting local authorities in creating
  prosperous and cohesive communities (Homes
  Communities Agency Housing Regeneration
  Bill).
• Delivering more affordable, sustainable homes as
  part of wider place shaping activity (Housing
  Green Paper)

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Delivering more homes

• Housing Supply Challenge
• Growth in households continues to exceed supply
  of houses
• Despite recent improvements, housing completions
  remain historically low

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Affordability
Ratio of house prices to earnings (lower
quartile) 1999 and 2006

• As a consequence
• As demand has grown faster than supply
  affordability has worsened in all regions
• The lower quartile house price to earnings ratio
  increased from 3.84 in 1999 to 7.12 in 2006.

• Households waiting for social housing has
  risen by 60 in 10 years
• 0.5 million households are living in
  overcrowded accommodation
• Households in temporary accommodation has
  doubled in 10 years

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Government response

• Housing Green Paper announced
• plans to increase housing supply over time to
  deliver two million new homes by
• 2016 and three million by 2020
• new housing target to deliver 240,000
  additional homes a year by 2016
• Reinforced by PBR/CSR 07
• New Growth Points, including for the first time
  areas in the North of England
• Proposals for 10 eco-town schemes
• New 500million Housing and Planning Delivery
  Grant over the next 3 years
• New 300 million Community Infrastructure Fund
• New Planning Charge to support infrastructure

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Government response 2
Not just more houses but better and more
affordable homes

• Confirmation of target to ensure all new homes
  are zero carbon by 2016
• 8bn programme for affordable housing from
  2008-11 with increases in every region
• at least 70,000 affordable homes to be built a
  year by 2010/11
• at least 45,000 of these homes to be provided
  for social rent
• plans to help at least 25,000 households into
  Low Cost Home Ownership per year
• new opportunities for councils to build
  additional social rented and shared equity homes
  on their land through new Local Housing Companies
  and ALMOs

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Importance of place shaping

• 3 million houses - places or estates?
• Place shaping is about authorities making the
  right links across key functions
• housing planning economic development
  regeneration social services transport
• Place shaping involves
• strategic leadership bringing together agencies
  and partners
• joint vision for the future through the SCS and
  LDF core strategy
• spatial planning to shape places and facilitate
  sustainable development
• delivering outcomes
• Understanding the needs and preferences of local
  people local communities
• Pulling together partners to secure local
  delivery, through LSP and LAA.

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What is the strategic housing role?

• The strategic housing role is at the heart of
  place shaping
• planning facilitating new supply
• using evidence intelligence to plan future
  housing need across all tenures
• planning and commissioning housing support
  services to help people live in their home
• making best use of existing housing stock
• working in partnership to secure effective
  housing neighbourhood management on an on-going
  basis.

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What does the strategic housing role mean in
practice ?

• Appropriate collaboration at regional,
  sub-regional and local levels
• Integrating housing strategy with the Sustainable
  Community Strategy, LDF Core Strategy and LAA
• Aligning housing with other functions (e.g.
  economic development, health, social services,
  education, transport)
• understanding influencing housing markets,
  addressing affordability
• making full use of existing levers and powers in
  respect of existing and new housing stock
• working closely with Homes Communities Agency
  partners

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The broader picture

• Needs to be seen in the context of LGWP, Housing
  Green Paper, Planning WP, SNR, Climate Change
  Bill etc
• Significant responsibilities at LA level to
  develop an effective spatial vision for your
  area
• New economic development duty
• Leading role in carbon reduction
• Leading role on housing supply
• New responsibilities on skills
• Leading role on developing the new single
  regional strategies and work at sub regional
  level through MAAs etc

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What help is available?

• New powerful tools in place to shape and fund
  infrastructure esp if tied to prudential
  borrowing
• Supplementary business rate
• New planning charge underpinned by
  infrastructure plan and LDF
• Housing Green Paper contained measures to
  empower the local authority strategic housing
  role
• Housing Planning Delivery Grant to direct extra
  resources to councils delivering high levels of
  housing
• new ways for councils ALMOs to build homes on
  council land
• councils able to make better use of existing
  stock and bring empty homes back into use with
  help from Empty Homes Agency.
• Yvette Coopers 12 December speech provided
  support for making social housing fairer, more
  effective and personal
• reducing overcrowding through a national
  Overcrowding Action Plan, making best use of
  existing stock plans for larger homes
• increasing mobility and choice for tenants
• delivering more mixed communities.
• confirmation of Regional Housing Pot allocations.
• IDeA capacity building programme - providing
  practical support for authorities strategic
  housing role and wider place shaping activities

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Involves some challenges ....

• . for Government
• to ensure that the new local performance
  framework, including Comprehensive Area
  Assessment, recognises the importance of housing
  in the context of place shaping
• to provide further guidance on the strategic
  housing role, and the integration of housing
  strategies within Sustainable Community
  Strategies.
• . for partners locally
• to work effectiveness in partnership with local
  authorities to plan and deliver a joined-up
  approach to addressing housing need across all
  tenures
• to help develop and deliver wider LAA
  priorities

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.... as well as challenges for local authorities

• Strong local leadership essential for place
  shaping
• Understanding, and balancing, the needs
• and aspirations of all residents
• Pulling together partners across local,
  sub-regional and regional levels to deliver
  strategic housing activity
• Ensuring the skills capacity necessary to
  prioritise strategic housing activity
• Ensuring that housing contributes fully to LAAs.