When Peter Denton left what he labels “the dark side” in 2017 to join housing association Hyde Housing, he did so because he wanted to feel like he was making a difference.
In the investment world, where he’d spent decades working for Eurohypo, Barclays and, prior to his move to Hyde, Starwood Capital, Denton says he’d end up taking very little pleasure from the deals he was working on. Because he would have spent so much time on them, by the time the end was in sight he’d just be weary of the whole thing.
That wasn’t an existence he wanted anymore, so came the shift to Hyde, where he was given the “weird gift” that most days you did something that no matter how small, made a difference.
“That’s very motivational,” says Denton. “It’s very inspiring.”
Denton was loving life at Hyde. He’d found a purpose. That ability to deliver change. He’d only been in the role of chief executive for two years – having been promoted from finance director in 2019 – when Homes England came calling, following the shock departure of Nick Walkley.
“I was unbelievably happy at Hyde,” says Denton. “It was a very, very fulfilling role where in some small way I felt we could help the housing association sector as a whole, not just ourselves. When the agency came calling, I did initially say no because I was really happy.”
Homes England has Mrs Denton to thank for his change in answer. An evening spent chatting with her about the opportunity reminded him why he had left the world of private equity and banking. That evening reminded him that he wanted to do something that could “demonstrably help other people”.
At Hyde Denton could provide some affordable housing, but at Homes England he had the opportunity to facilitate the delivery of even more and even better affordable homes. Decision made. And, in August 2021, Denton took up the role of chief executive of the government’s homes and regeneration agency.
Growing pains
Denton will be first to admit that he – and new chairman Peter Freeman – did not step into a perfectly formed government agency. There have been many, many issues to iron out. The work has been “brutal”, the agency has seen departures, and an internal audit identified “significant weaknesses” with its governance and risk management that needed immediate attention.
“The agency had some growing pains that I was brought in to deal with,” says Denton. “In hindsight, now I look at it and see that you can’t take 700 people in 2018, double that by 2020 and not have to deal with some growing pains in terms of some of the structures in the organisation and governance and risk and reporting. But we’re doing alright at that now.”
We can’t be just a doler-out of money, but nor can we be abstract or unemotional. A critical friend is someone who buys into what you’re trying to do and makes sure you do it to the best of your opportunities
Denton’s focus now is on how Homes England can become an agency of change. How it can change from being a body that moves from delivering programmes to a body that delivers place.
“The agency is an organisation that people tend to engage with, with the lens of what they’re engaging on – land or infrastructure, Help to Buy, affordable,” he says, admitting that was his view of the agency when he joined. But now, with a new secretary of state in Michael Gove and the recent publication of the Levelling Up whitepaper, the agency is pivoting.
Place not programmes
“A lot of how Homes England has had to act in the past is in programmes,” says Denton. “So, do you want the programme to promote diversification of housebuilding? Do you want a programme that focuses on modular MMC? Do you want a programme that focuses on sustainability or unlocking land or infrastructure investment and so forth? That’s been a wonderful gift for the agency, but the big change that is overdue and necessary is place not programmes.”
He adds: “Places not programmes means – to some extent – that we stop focusing on what this particular chunk of money is supposed to deliver and we reorientate everything towards place.”
Success for the agency, says Denton, will now be measured by what it has done to create or enhance a sense of place. Has the agency done something that the local people and elected officials feel has delivered for them?
“That is quite different to how we’ve acted in the past,” says Denton.
That pivot in behaviour is opening up opportunities for the commercial real estate sector to partner with Homes England, and Denton is keen to make sure that the industry knows his door is open. And that it is open just as widely for the small developers, investors and property owners as it is for the large.
“The agency is incredibly well known in its core markets of the housebuilders, SMEs and local authorities, and I don’t want to detract from that. Far from it, I want to build on it,” says Denton. “But where it has naturally been weaker has been in the commercial real estate world, because we haven’t needed to engage as much there. We’ve fundamentally turned a 180, and they are probably the ones that have or can get control over some of the most catalytic regeneration opportunities, certainly in the Midlands and the North.”
Catalytic regeneration
Homes England’s more visible move into the regeneration game was recently highlighted through its deal with development firm Digbeth Loc to move the BBC’s Masterchef production studios from London to Homes England’s Warwick Bar site in Birmingham in 2024.
Warwick Bar is a collection of derelict and brownfield sites around Digbeth, assembled by the agency over recent years to help catalyse the wider regeneration of Digbeth. The site has scope to deliver some 1,000 new homes, and around 270,000 sq ft of employment or educational floor space.
“This was just one little property announcement,” says Denton. “But for Digbeth it is catalytic regeneration. It’s absolutely huge because of the confidence it places in the area.”
Bringing confidence back to areas, delivering catalytic regeneration is a clear focus for Denton at Homes England as he seeks to deliver on his desire to make a difference. And – perhaps the ruthless banker stereotype plays well here – he’s not going to let anything stand in the way of that. Prepare to see Homes England becoming more interventionist, says Denton. The agency has compulsory purchase order powers and, under his leadership, it is not going to be afraid to use them.
But, adds Denton, partnership is the method the agency would prefer to use.
He cites York Central as a key example. York Central is 111 acres of land around the northern city’s train station that has been locked for close to six decades. Now, through partnership with Network Rail, Homes England has just put its first spade in the ground at the site to start to bring about vital infrastructure works.
Eventually, the site is expected to deliver around 1m sq ft of office space, 2,500 homes and a hotel – although Denton thinks it can do more. It should be a shining example of the “King’s Cross Central” style regenerations the Levelling Up whitepaper outlined for places like Sheffield and Wolverhampton.
Denton says the agency is already in discussions with commercial tenants for the office space but knows that it can’t deliver the project on its own and will shortly be launching the opportunity to market in the hope of bringing in an investor and partner to “do the doing”.
“The agency and Network Rail are of the view that we are not here to build things. There are lots and lots of talented people who can do that,” he says. “We’re here to create a spark of opportunity and to get control and clarity.”
Repositioning role
While Denton won’t be drawn on where else Homes England will be doing a York Central – pulling sites together and then bringing in external private investment to “do the doing” – saying there’s only one man who gets to announce levelling up locations, it’s clear there will be many.
But it is not just those big sites where Homes England will be more proactive and interventionist in bringing about a sense of place; Denton is keen for the agency to have an active role in the repurposing agenda going on in the real estate sector right now and to use repositioning as an opportunity to create place.
“There are plenty of tertiary and secondary office and retail assets at the moment, some with continued life, some not, and if we can support with our powers, our various buckets of capital, if we can support other people to reposition assets, to reposition areas, that’s wonderful,” says Denton. “I’m really looking forward to the agency supporting people who have probably never thought of the agency before as someone who can help them. But where we can take existing situations – out-of-town retail, shopping centre retail, tertiary office, some resi – where we can help someone else create a dream and a place, that would be great for us as well.”
One thing that anyone who knows Denton will be aware of is his passion for social value. It was a key driver for him at Hyde. And it is the key driver that enables him to sleep easy at night at Homes England, despite the stresses that come with such a varied workload.
For Denton social value comes through creating place, through delivering decent homes for people to live in, through creating community. And he believes that public and private partnership, and Homes England, is perfectly placed to deliver.
“We are and always will be a critical friend,” says Denton. “We can’t be just a doler-out of money, but nor can we be abstract or unemotional. A critical friend is someone who buys into what you’re trying to do and makes sure you do it to the best of your opportunities.
“This is the vomit moment,” he adds, with a grimace. “But we are here to serve. We really are here to serve.”
To send feedback, e-mail samantha.mcclary@eg.co.uk or tweet @samanthamcclary or @EGPropertyNews
