Homes England needs to be given a clearer view on the balance of funding it has to deliver regeneration and placemaking and other funding programmes.
This was one of 10 recommendations put forward in the Homes England Public Bodies Review, published yesterday. Alongside clarity around funding, the report called for the Help to Buy programme and building safety responsibilities to be removed from the body in the medium term.
“These do not now directly support the agency’s core work on regeneration and housing supply and are likely to be a distraction,” said the review.
On funding, the report, led by Tony Poulter, said that by the next spending review, the Department for Levelling Up, Communities & Housing should decide on what the balance of Homes England funding should be between regeneration and placemaking and its other funding programmes and that objectives set in the agency’s strategic plan should be reflected in the design of any new funding programmes.
Poulter wants DLUHC to propose to the Treasury five-year rolling funding commitments for regeneration and placemaking work in agreed priority places and for this funding to be a separate pot from national housing programmes.
“Our overall conclusion is that England and the government need Homes England. It has the right powers and form, and most of the capability and tools, to deliver better housing and better places,“ said Poulter, “but some changes should now be made to maximise the impact that Homes England delivers.”
He said that while Homes England was the “right vehicle for delivering housing supply, regeneration and placemaking” there was a need to be clear on priorities, a need for longer and more flexible funding arrangements from government to support delivery and for closer collaboration between Homes England and local authorities to “plan investment and delivery that responds to the needs in their area”.
He also called for Homes England to take on more risk, investing counter-cyclically to deliver more benefits and to be “even bolder” by playing the role of master developer on more large regeneration and placemaking schemes.
Peter Denton, chief executive at Homes England, said: “The report makes clear we have a crucial role to play in catalysing local regeneration and housing delivery by using our land, powers, funding and expertise – reducing risk to drive investment and harnessing the potential of private and public sector skills, capital and partnerships.
“Bringing all of these elements together means we are greater than the sum of our parts as a collective force to deliver effective change.”
Almost all of the recommendations put forward in the review require co-operation between DLUHC and Homes England. It calls for the DLUHC senior sponsor and the chair of Homes England, Peter Freeman, to work together to complete implementation of work done in 2021 to embed a shared understanding of governance in both organisations.
“The relationship for delivery should be more arm’s length than it now is, relying more on the Homes England board to govern performance and be answerable to ministers,” recommends the review.
Read the report and its recommendations in full >>
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