The national pilots of the Housing Corporation's affordable housing protocols, the development of agreements between Local Authorities and the Housing Corporation to support better delivery of affordable homes and sustainable communities, were announced.
Speaking during the plenary session 'Delivering on the Barker Review' at the CIH national conference, Housing Corporation Chief Executive, Jon Rouse unveiled the names of the Local Authority areas taking part in its pilot protocol programme.
The areas are:
Key proposals for the protocol include a commitment by local government to contribute more effectively to the delivery of affordable housing at a local level. In return, the Housing Corporation will offer local government greater engagement around investment decisions and input into the regulatory assessment of housing association performance.
The pilots are all scheduled to be signed off before the end of the year.
Individual communities across England look set to provide more and more affordable housing for themselves in the future, according to the Housing Corporation which announced significant new research into the use of Community Land Trusts.
Community Land Trusts allow ownership of land by the local community to provide affordable homes or other facilities to meet local priorities, crucially without the need for social housing grant.
Conducted by Bob Paterson of the University of Salford, it is anticipated that the research will underpin opinions that, as existing community leaders, the 1500 housing associations funded and regulated by the Corporation should be central to the successful creation of Community Land Trusts.
Ultimately it will inform a best practice toolkit for housing associations as they guide and advise communities in taking greater control over the housing issues for priority local action.
This commission follows the recent statement by Ruth Kelly, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, that in future local authorities will be required to consider the option of community ownership for all future proposed stock transfers.
Housing Corporation Chief Executive, Jon Rouse, said: "We see a clear potential for more affordable homes to be provided by local communities themselves - for use by those same local communities in the future - which is why we have funded this practical research.
"This is all about giving communities direct control over local housing issues and building more affordable homes in the neighbourhoods where they are needed. And as trusted organisations central to the communities in which they work, the housing associations we fund are ideally placed to help deliver the vision behind Community Land Trusts."
The research has been funded by £120,000 made available through the Housing Corporation's Innovation and Good Practice Programme. It will build on current initiatives and will involve housing associations and their key partners in both urban and rural locations.
Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government Ruth Kelly announced an independent assessment of social housing, to be led by Professor John Hills.
In her speech at the Chartered Institute of Housing's annual conference, Ms Kelly said social housing should help people to get on in life. She also called on every local authority and housing association to consider taking up the Social Homebuy scheme, which enables tenants to become part-owners of properties without leaving their own communities. The proceeds from these schemes then go into providing social and affordable housing.
The independent assessment, which will report in the autumn, will look at the role of social housing in the 21st century. In particular, it will examine if the system is flexible enough to cope with people's changing circumstances. It will explore how social housing can help create mixed communities. In addition it will take a detailed look at the Social Homebuy scheme to question if there are barriers for housing associations, local authorities or tenants in taking it up.
Ruth Kelly said: "We need to ensure we reach our target of having 30,000 additional social houses a year by 2007/8. This is, frankly, long overdue. But we need to look at wider questions too.
L"We need to see how social housing can help us create genuinely mixed communities, where people from different backgrounds and at different life stages live together.
"And we want social housing to become more responsive. It must continue to act as a place of assurance and security for those who have no other option. But it must also give tenants greater choice and be a springboard into ownership for those who only need it for a short time.
"Everyone should feel they have the right to own a house, if that is what they choose. Our Social Homebuy programme can be a stepping stone into home ownership for those who can't afford to buy outright but want to get a foot onto the housing ladder."
Professor John Hills is Director of the Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion at the LSE and Professor of Social Policy. His publications include Unravelling Housing Finance and Inequality and the State. He has worked on social housing and housing policy throughout his career and has previously advised the Government on these issues.
The Housing Corporation launched a Northern Housing Challenge to stimulate creative thinking and produce innovation. The Northern Housing Challenge is designed to find new housing-led projects which will help shrink the North's annual £30 billion output shortfall compared to the South.
The Northern Housing Challenge has two objectives:
The Challenge will test out new ways of contributing to the economic development work of bodies like the three Northern RDAs, the Northern Way and the North's ten urban regeneration companies. Up to 12% of the Housing Corporation's next affordable housing investment programme could be allocated to support such innovative proposals that advance economic growth in the North.
John Carleton, Director of the Housing Corporation in the North, said: "Creating the right kind of affordable housing in the right place is central to achieving the key objectives of economic growth and sustainable communities in the North.
"We have designed the Northern Housing Challenge to find new ways with Regional Housing Boards for affordable housing to contribute even more to the prosperity and life chances of Northern residents.
"This is a real opportunity to try out new thinking. Given the North's long track record of innovation, we anticipate receiving proposals that will really challenge the conventional affordable housing paradigms. We expect to see proposals for new products, new funding approaches and new ways for residents to benefit from affordable housing investment."
