Select Committee on Office of the Deputy Prime Minister: Housing, Planning, Local Government and the Regions Eighth Report


1 Introduction

1. The Housing Corporation is now the major public funder of new social housing at a time when the shortage of affordable housing has been highlighted by many reports by this Committee and others and is high on the Government's agenda. It is setting up an increasing number of agencies to increase the supply of housing. Regional Housing Boards have also been established to develop regional strategies. The Government also aims to improve the management of existing social housing. Here we consider how the Housing Corporation has responded to the need to build more homes and its relationships with all the other agencies. With the Government concluding its own review of the Housing Corporation, it was an appropriate moment to hold this inquiry.

2. The Committee announced its inquiry on 7 January 2004. The terms of reference were to consider:

  • the effectiveness of the Housing Corporation's role in ensuring housing associations are:

    - financially sound and responsible

    - accountable

    - providing high quality housing

    - catering for diverse housing needs

    - assisting the process of regeneration;

  • the Housing Corporation's investment priorities, its balance of funding for social housing to rent, shared ownership and low cost housing for sale and its policy towards diversification.
  • the Housing Corporation's relationship with other national public and private agencies - particularly the Audit Commission, Charity Commission, Housing Market Renewal Pathfinders, the Financial Services Authority, private finance institutions and house builders;
  • the extent of the integration of the Housing Corporation's investment programmes with local, regional and national policies and particularly its emerging relationship with the regional housing boards and the Regional Development Agencies;
  • the future role of the Housing Corporation in increasing the supply of affordable housing and the potential for streamlining all funding for social housing.

3. We received twenty nine written submissions and held five evidence sessions. We would like to thank our two specialist advisers, Brendan Nevin and Mark Lupton, for their guidance and assistance, and all those organisations who made written submissions or gave oral evidence to this inquiry.


 
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Prepared 29 June 2004