Future activities of the Homes and Communities Agency Dan Jackson 13 th December 2010

The vision  The HCA is changing to reflect the Government’s new direction  The Agency will be a smaller and more strategic enabling, investment and regulation agency –working with local authorities and their communities at their request –ensuring Registered Providers are economically well run and financially viable –with a stronger role for local leadership  “The people you call to get things done” –Grant Shapps, Housing Minister

As a national agency that delivers locally the new HCA will…  Provide practical, innovative and co-ordinated support –to deliver local ambitions for housing and regeneration –in a way that would otherwise be more expensive and difficult to achieve –while withdrawing from areas better led by others  Embed localism at the heart of every activity –to put communities in charge and support people to meet their housing aspirations –while increasing accountability and transparency  Maximise the potential of private and institutional investment –and secure the best outcomes and value for money from limited public resources –while reducing costs significantly

The HCA offer  As an enabling, investment and regulation agency our offer will have four main parts –driven by what local areas need, developed through local investment planning Investment Enabling support Maximising assets for local benefit Supporting local delivery and services through regulation

Investment – Three areas of activity Affordable housing Existing stock Land & regeneration  Total investment of £4.5bn over the spending review  Completion of existing commitments under the NAHP  A new affordable housing programme, up to 150,000 homes, many at the new affordable rent  Continuing provision for mortgage rescue, Places of Change and Gypsy and Traveller sites and for bringing empty homes back into use  A £2.1bn programme of investment needed to deal with repairs  Reaching a point where self-financing becomes viable  Enabling local authorities to connect this investment to other opportunities, especially around energy efficiency  A key test of our investment and enabling role combined  Using public land assets to deliver value and benefits for local communities  A central role in realising benefits from the land assets left by the RDAs  Access to £1.3bn fund for completion of existing regeneration commitments that are high priorities for local areas These programmes will be at the heart of the new HCA’s place making activity

Investment – A new approach to affordable housing  Government’s new “Affordable Rent” offer in return for investing in new supply: –rents set at up to 80% of market levels –tenancy agreements that can be reviewed after a fixed period –ability to convert existing social homes to affordable rent at point of relet  Rent and tenancy terms for existing tenants will not be affected  Funding remains for empty homes, Mortgage Rescue, Places of Change and Gypsies & Travellers  Low Cost Home Ownership supported where it’s a local priority  The new approach allows greater flexibility to make public investment go further –details of how this model will be implemented will be developed over the coming months

Local Investment Planning – The overall framework  Local investment planning provides the overall framework for the HCA at a local level. Local investment planning is: –a voluntary process: when asked, no local authorities expressed a wish to discontinue developing their plans –a locally led process: the HCA supports local authorities to develop the plans, based on their own criteria for prioritising investment; and –A collaborative process: producing shared but locally-owned housing and regeneration ambitions  The HCA is working with 160 local partnerships, the majority of which will have completed their plans by Autumn 2010 –e.g. the HCA has supported seven local authorities in Cumbria to agree a common framework for housing investment, making decisions consistent and mutually supportive

Local Investment Planning – Three Processes Guiding the HCA’s local offer Informing resource allocation Maximising impact  Local investment planning will play a central role in guiding the delivery of specific investment programmes  It will also provide the basis for establishing what other support local areas request from the Agency  Local investment planning can help support a localist approach to allocating resources  The detailed intelligence provided by local investment plans ensures that new investment is applied to meet local need  Local authorities find the planning process valuable in helping them to maximise the impact of all available investment  It does so by providing the basis for co-ordination across public and private investment, and in identifying the areas of greatest impact

Keep in touch visit homesandcommunities.co.uk