Everyone Needs a Home

Everyone Needs a Home Everyone Needs a Home Report of Working Groups – April 2011 1 Everyone Needs a Home Introduction Housing in Britain now operates in a completely new Report Contents context. For every penny spent on housing to count, the Do-it-yourself Planning housing property sector needs a big voice. The Housing and Housing Delivery in a Localist World 8-13 Forum believes that our strong public and private sector At the Heart is Housing 14 -19 connections give us the voice of the industry. We have Affordability Later in Life 20-25 effectively brought all the housing property sectors Routes to Community together, by building on the success of partnering and Scale Retrofit 26-36 joint venture approaches – a central part of The Housing What Happens Next? 37 Forum’s offer. Now is the time for innovation and for DCLG Household homes built to the highest standard and for improvement Projections 2008-2033 38 in the existing stock through asset management List of Participants 39 and maintenance. The Housing Forum works for real progress at a local level, while applying the best national and international practices. Front Cover: LHA-ASRA Elmgrove Point, Plumstead Photographer: Grant Smith www.grant-smith.com The views expressed in this report reflect the wide range of contributions made by the working groups but would not necessarily be shared by individual members, or their organisations. A radical change is underway in the planning frameworks and our first Barry Munday Shelagh Grant report is “Do-it-yourself Planning and Chairman, The Housing Forum. Chief Executive, The Housing Forum. Housing Delivery in a Localist World”. As The Housing Forum sets out its homes in this context does need a priorities for housing over the next more agile and proactive approach, Our approach has been to dig deep couple of years, we are aware that the and this report and our four working into the aims of the Decentralisation sector operates in a climate where groups have set out practical solutions and Localism Bill which is intended to new sources of investment funding for to help this come about. Our four be enacted by 2012 and offer practical housing are sought. We also operate working groups have involved over 70 proposals to show how it might be in the context of an increasingly leading cross industry experts who delivered and where further clarification smaller public sector. The nature have examined the pertinent issues and is needed. The Housing Forum, from its of public sector commissioning of considered “What does the housing days of The Customer Driven Strategy, housing will reduce and local planning property sector have to do to ensure has chimed with a neighbourhood and frameworks will change. The provision housing delivery?” sustainable focus, but, the message of new homes and better refurbished is still quite clear - many more homes are needed. 2 Everyone Needs a Home Willmott Dixon - Denham Garden Village 3 Everyone Needs a Home Introduction This is a work in progress, intended to ensure that capital assets are maximised need to make personal provision for care make sure that final housing outcomes on sale and disposal programmes. and support in later life and the fact that are successful and aligned to local home equity is the major source of funds priorities, in the following topic areas – Taken as a whole, the new regime, for many suggests that the industry which will be updated on an ongoing worked in with the suite of local should be catering for those able to basis: incentives presents opportunities for make choices in this area. local councils and housing associations Making the Case for Development to raise the bar and cater for a new We have focussed on how this Presumption in Favour of and emerging generation of long-term might come about and how housing Sustainable Development renters. Preparing to meet new markets businesses might deal with this. Whilst Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) Local Vision and Wellbeing Outcomes Improved Evidence and Practice in Strategic Housing Market Assessments (SHMAs) Infrastructure Finance and Delivery Land Price and Challenges for Valuation Community Housing Opportunities We have examined the overall approach to affordable housing in our second report “At the Heart is Housing” which is set in the current operating context and takes the view that market models for rented housing are being considered by the commercial sector as a strategy Bromford Housing Group - Landmark Point, Burton-on-Trent of diversifying as they see less social housing units being built. Demographics – in terms of graduate workers and new generations of ‘extra care’ have indicate pressure for more homes will newly retired – can bring balance and evolved as a response to social and care not change but a more successful range to a management portfolio and needs, we believe that certain factors way of reconciling new and existing an opportunity to develop new types of which can stimulate the market have not communities through planning reforms renting and products. been fully addressed. is vital. There are significant economic Our conclusions suggest different The challenge for the housing differences in housing markets across drivers which need to come through – association sector in particular in the country and reforms need local economic factors mean that schemes for delivering on the new flexible tenure sensitivity and flexibility for local the elderly are likely to be much greater regime relies, to an important degree, circumstances. in number of units and overall size. on maximising assets along with other This requires different conversations, funding regimes. The best use of asset A housing market of a different type is adjustments and consultations both disposal techniques can benefit from opening up in the retirement arena as with communities and with potential lessons learnt in partnering, options our third report “Affordability Later in residents themselves. appraisal and stock condition surveys to Life” sets out. The inevitability of the 4 Everyone Needs a Home Town and Country Housing Group - Orpington High Street Placing schemes at the centre of urban The existing housing stock is the areas but in accessible neighbourhoods key to delivery on the low carbon The era of localism and the offers the opportunity to access agenda – with or without new build introduction of Neighbourhood supplementary revenue schemes – additions. Our fourth report “Routes to and Community Plans provide by shared developments with health Community Scale Retrofit” is written the opportunity to tie this related and retail uses and it is in these on the threshold of changes to financial together as a fresh platform locations that there is sufficient volume mechanisms and explores a complex for retrofit policy. Our report of demand. range of motivators, providers and outlines the main approach at a opportunities. higher level as a basis for good There will be more mixed tenure in the practice work in this area. future and schemes will be development Despite wide recognition of the issues driven. In order to work at a commercial in the sector, retrofit policy, timescales level, this will often mean offering units and process have lacked co-ordination for sale ahead of the social rented and for too long focussed on individual sector. properties. 5 Everyone Needs a Home The Housing Forum Working Group Chairs Stephen Hill John Cross Alan Soper Chair of Working Group: Chair of Working Group: Chair of Working Group: Do It Yourself Planning At the Heart is Housing Routes to Community Level Retrofit Stephen is an independent public John has been Chief Executive of bpha From 2004 until his recent retirement, interest practitioner, with forty years of since 1995 and was appointed to the Alan was Managing Director of Ian public and private sector experience of Board in 2004. He is responsible for Williams, a large, privately owned housing, planning and delivering mixed- advising the Board on the formulation company providing services to the built use development, urban extensions, of policy and the implementation of environment. The company’s main new settlements, and community-led Board decisions, and also leads bpha’s sectors of expertise are social housing, neighbourhood regeneration. staff and the overall management of the education and public buildings and it is a Association. direct employer of all major trade skills. He is currently RICS’ representative on the CLG Housing Policy Sounding John has twice been a member of the Alan’s background in the outsourced Board, and Housing Construction National Housing Federation Board, services sector, includes 12 years in Roundtable, through which he has been serving a total of 11 years. He was Facilities Management, running the co-ordinating a self-organised housing elected to the position of Chair in FM businesses of AMEC and EMCOR. sector group working with CLG on October 2006 for a three year term and Following a degree in Mathematics new policy development and plans for has also chaired its Housing Finance at Exeter University, his early career delivery. He is now chairing a working and Investment and Regeneration was spent with the National Freight group on Land Supply for CLG’s newly Committees. Corporation, leading to his first MD established Self-Build Government- appointment – at the parcels company, He is a Board member of both Industry Group. For over 20 years, he Lynx Express. After a short spell with the Oxford and Gloucestershire has championed land tenure and tax the waste management company, Biffa, Care Partnerships and Chair of reform, Community Land Trusts and he subsequently advised the Ocean Cambridgeshire Partnerships Limited. citizen led housing solutions. Group on strategic acquisitions then More locally, John chairs the Bedford joined AMEC in 1997. Borough Partnership (the local strategic partnership) and is an active A Henley MBA, he has been a vice member of Renaissance Bedford, a chairman of the Business Services partnership of public and private sector Association and is a regular speaker organisations supporting the delivery of and facilitator on service management the sustainable communities plan in the issues.

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