Housing and the new coalition government – plenty of food for thought Richard Capie Director of Policy and Practice CIH

We live in interesting times  Economic conditions will shape everything  Emergency budget and CSR  Manifestos, green papers and think tanks provide clues  We have a Programme for Government but details light.  There is an appetite for radical reform  Localism, subsidiarity and transparency are key themes  Some areas could prove challenging for the coalition

Programme for government  “The deficit reduction programme takes precedence over any of the other measures in this agreement, and the speed of implementation of any measures that have a cost to the public finances will depend on decisions made in the Comprehensive Spending Review.”

We still have a CLG, but…..

We are currently reviewing the content of this website  Decent Homes  Housing Market Renewal  Eco-towns  Thames Gateway  Local Area Agreements  Local Strategic Partnerships  Total Place/Total Capital  Comprehensive Area Assessments/One Place  Homes and Communities Agency  Tenant Services Authority  Infrastructure Planning Commission  National Housing Planning Advice Unit  National Tenants Voice  Asb/Respect  Supporting People  Warm Homes

Localism is key  I have three priorities: localism, localism and localism

Programme for government  The Government believes that it is time for a fundamental shift of power from Westminster to people. We will promote decentralisation and democratic engagement, and we will end the era of top-down government by giving new powers to local councils, communities, neighbourhoods and individuals.

There is common ground on localism  Strong Foundations  Open Source Planning  Control Shift  Total Politics  The Orange Book  Britain after Blair  "There is much here that local government would endorse, including the abolition of regional plans and targets, cutting out the ludicrous over-engineering of the process and cutting down the national policy framework."  Dame Margaret Eaton - Chair of the LGA

Housing is part of a bigger picture  Respublica  Localis  Centre for Social Justice  Demos  Centre for Policy Studies  Policy Exchange  CentreForum

Where does this take us?  The future of regulation – 2 become 1  The future of investment - a new, smaller HCA – supporting local government, through an enabling role, keeping land assembly  Current investment funding is at risk (£610m – NAHP, Kickstart2, HMR, Gypsies and Travellers, PLI)  Planning is in flux (RSS to ??? Managing the transition)  Securing HRA reform – so far so good  Autumn CSR – securing the new “normal” for housing but what about local authorities, care funding etc?  Working through the end of inspection, CAA and the LGPF?  A better, bigger PRS post-Rugg but against a backdrop of CGT changes and public spending cuts?

More questions than answers  De-ringfenced housing funding (Post Total Place/Capital)?  Local housing incentives and wider LA financial reform (local taxation?)  Classification of housing debt?  Making Open Source a reality (could it deliver?)  Benefit reform, personalisation, conditionality and implications for housing benefit  A new approach to rents  The Poverty Commission  Wider housing reform of the social rented and lcho products  Can the new BOE committee make a difference?

Finally, don’t under-estimate the appetite for taking on the difficult issues “As I have said, security of tenure is incredibly important, particularly for people in social housing, and we are keen to protect that. There are 1.8 million families languishing on that social housing waiting list, and it is right and proper that we look at the way in which we can reduce that list. It may include looking at tenure for the future.” Grant Shapps, 10 June 2010.