A unique partnership between Northampton Borough Council and the Housing Corporation was signed that will deliver quality, affordable housing across the borough. The protocol agreement brings together the resources and skills of both organisations and sets out how the Housing Corporation and Local Authority will work in partnership to deliver the common vision of affordable homes within strong communities that reflect local priorities.
The two parties have been working together for the past four months to develop the agreement, which is based on a national protocol agreed between the Local Government Association and the Corporation. Designed to help bring forward new housing opportunities to tackle the shortage of affordable homes in the borough, some of the specifics within the agreement include the following:
Developing a coordinated homelessness strategy.
Ensuring it is not just about building new homes, but also about creating strong neighbourhoods.
Identifying options for regeneration within the borough and improvements to the town centre.
Developing frameworks for partnership working with housing associations and other stakeholders.
Making the best use of land in delivering more affordable housing.
The Borough of Northampton is a key investment priority for the Corporation and will see over £20 million invested in 2006-08 to deliver over 500 new affordable homes.
Northampton Borough Council and the Corporation will work closely with housing associations and residents to review the quality of housing services provided. Part of this agenda will be to look at ways of more directly involving residents and housing associations in the development and management of neighbourhoods and community facilities.
Brent Council lobbied the Government for more money to transform its South Kilburn Estate. The Council has been awarded £50 million in gap funding from Communities and Local Government (CLG) to regenerate the estate, but that is only 50% of what it bid for.
The CLG's £180 million gap funding budget is heavily oversubscribed. The Government decided Brent could only use gap funding for its housing programme and not for new community facilities. This cut the award by £25 million and a further £25 million was slashed because the Government argued that the Council was too generous in the amount of internal space in homes allowed for in planned new homes.
Plans for the South Kilburn Estate include the demolition and replacement of nearly 1,500 social homes, subsidised by around 1,400 properties for sale.
Westminster Council launched a scheme to assist people living in temporary accommodation get a foot on the home ownership ladder.
As part of the temporary to settled scheme, the Council will purchase 125 properties over the next two years and move families from temporary accommodation into permanent homes. Once in the new homes, tenants can participate in a shared equity scheme.
The Council has one of the highest numbers of people living in temporary accommodation in the country. It claims that its new scheme could help shave £500,000 off its homelessness budget.