A new way of doing business that helps local authorities achieve their housing and regeneration goals appears to be meeting wide-scale support and success.
According to the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA), its Single Conversation business model, which has been developed to co-ordinate discussion and make better use of local funding streams, is now underway with 67% of all Local Authorities around the country.
Behind each of the Agency's 121 conversations is a series of on-going negotiations and discussions with 259 Local Authorities plus Regional Development Agencies, organisations such as the Highways Agency, Environment Agency and other public bodies to establish priorities for each place and agree next steps. New and existing partners have welcomed this way of working with the HCA and see the Single Conversation as a positive approach.
The Single Conversation brings together all of the parties involved in a particular place to discuss the long term vision for that area, housing and regeneration priorities and investment needs. Offering expertise, funding and the sharing of good practice through its discussions with Local Authorities and other agencies, the HCA can also help to leverage funding from other sources.
To illustrate progress being made - in the East of England, one of the early results of the Single Conversation is a partnership between the HCA and Norwich City Council to establish a joint process that will create a supply of new homes and jobs over 12 years. Under the terms of the partnership, the HCA will invest £7.5 million with the City, while Norwich City Council will invest some of its land, so that around 1,300 homes around to be jointly developed.