Conclusions and recommendations
The changing role of the Housing Corporation
1. There
is now considerable confusion about which agency is responsible
for the provision of social housing. There is a clear need to
clarify the Housing Corporation's relationships with all the agencies
engaged in the provision of affordable housing (Paragraph 9)
2. The
End to End Review should consider how decisions on housing investment
should be taken and then determine the Housing Corporation's
role in that framework at a national, regional and local level.
(Paragraph 13)
The Housing Corporation's national role
3. The
Housing Corporation should no longer be a passive delivery agency
for Government housing programmes. It should take on a national
role in terms of contributing towards a national framework for
housing and acting as the public champion of social housing alongside
the Local Government Association and the National Housing Federation.
It needs to take on a strategic role in overseeing the work of
the Regional Housing Boards. (Paragraph 23)
4. The Housing Corporation
should retain its regulatory role over housing associations and
should use the best practice and examples of innovative projects
which it has developed to raise the quality of housing association
management. The results of its innovation and good practice programme
should be actively disseminated and used in a way which informs
strategic priorities. (Paragraph 24)
The Housing Corporation and Sustainable Communities
5. There
is potential for greater collaboration between English Partnerships,
the Housing Corporation and the Department of Health and Ministry
of Defence to maximise the potential for affordable housing in
the redevelopment of their surplus operational land. (Paragraph
35)
6. There are a large
number of new regeneration agencies charged with delivering the
Sustainable Communities Plan. The Housing Corporation needs to
consider its role in securing considerable amounts of social housing
as part of the mixed tenure developments being proposed. (Paragraph
36)
7. English Partnerships'
role in promoting housing development must be clarified as there
seems to be an overlap with the role of the Housing Corporation.
The Government needs to reconsider its proposal in the Housing
Bill to allow the Housing Corporation to fund private developers.
It would cause confusion as EP and other agencies already have
the remit to fund developers and giving an additional remit to
the Housing Corporation could cause confusion and duplication.
(Paragraph 37)
8. The relationship
between the Housing Corporation and English Partnerships and the
other new agencies delivering the Sustainable Communities Plan
must be put on a firmer footing. Reciprocal membership of the
boards of the agencies is not sufficient. Greater integration
of social housing funds and landownership in the areas covered
by the Sustainable Communities Plan is required to maximise the
amount of affordable housing in the private developments. (Paragraph
38)
The Regional Agenda
9. There
is potential to develop the role of the Regional Housing Boards
but first of all they must increase their input from local authorities
and tenants organisations. This could build on the work of the
regional housing partnerships which involve a variety of housing
interests in many areas and are drawing up the regional housing
strategy on behalf of the Boards. (Paragraph 53)
10. The Regional Housing
Boards need a clear role in overseeing the allocation of housing
funds. They should develop a monitoring regime for the Housing
Corporation's allocation of funds to housing associations to ensure
that the priorities identified in the Board's regional strategies
are met. The Boards also require resources to develop their analysis
of regional needs and prepare their strategies. (Paragraph 54)
11. Regional policies
should be drawn up by local interests. The Housing Corporation
and English Partnerships are represented on all the Regional Housing
Boards but they are national agencies providing funding, land
and development expertise. At the moment the Corporation and EP's
regional structures do not reflect the RHBs or the Government's
regional offices. If their involvement is to be meaningful, EP
and the Housing Corporation must develop effective regional arrangements
to ensure that those with regional knowledge are on the Boards.
In regions where EP does not have a major programme it should
not sit on the Regional Housing Board, but once a new programme
is developed in a region then it should be eligible for representation.
(Paragraph 55)
12. The Housing Corporation
must develop a clear relationship with the Regional Housing Boards
in terms of managing the delivery of housing. At a regional level
progress and monitoring reports prepared for the Corporation should
be made available to the Regional Housing Board and the Corporation
should make it their practice to consult the Board on a regular
basis. In distributing funds, the Corporation should be obliged
to consult the Regional Housing Boards and to have due regard
to their strategies and priorities. (Paragraph 56)
13. The Government
should require English Partnerships to work to the priorities
set by the Regional Housing Boards and to report progress on implementation
to them on a regular basis. (Paragraph 57)
14. The Committee
accepts that housing and planning policies needs to be better
coordinated but there is no case currently for merging the Regional
Housing Boards with Regional Planning Boards. The Regional Housing
Boards are beginning to develop a regional approach to the provision
and funding of affordable housing that could be lost in the merger.
Once directly elected assemblies are set up, they should be allowed
to decide how planning and housing decisions are made. (Paragraph
58)
The role of the local authorities
15. The
Housing Corporation needs to review how it works with local authorities
to ensure that its funding and partnering arrangements help to
implement their local housing strategies. Public funders need
to consider better how they contribute to achieving mixed tenure
development. (Paragraph 64)
Housing Corporation Efficiency Savings
16. In
the quest to increase the number of homes, there is a serious
danger that the quality of new homes may suffer. The Housing Corporation
should impose stringent design requirements on housing associations
before any funding bid is approved. It also needs to set out clearly
its requirements in terms of whole lifetime costs and adaptability.
Where possible, it should ensure that homes meet lifetime homes
standards. (Paragraph 69)
17. There is currently
no certainty that the use of off-site manufacturing is any more
cost effective than traditional methods. The committee welcomes
the opportunity to address the shortage of on-site skills and
to use prefabricated components that could offer thermal, acoustic
and other benefits. The committee is concerned that off-site fabrication
methods should not mirror any of the 'system-build' approaches
used in the past that have left a legacy of problems in some housing
stock. (Paragraph 75)
18. The government
should work with the Building Research Establishment to develop
confidence that all new off-site manufacturing methodologies will
be effective in the short term and over the lifetime of the housing.
(Paragraph 76)
19. The Housing Corporation
is prioritising funding to larger housing associations despite
a lack of evidence that they are more efficient at managing or
developing their stock. There is some evidence that smaller associations
are better managers. The Partnering approach has been implemented
by the Housing Corporation without due consideration for its impact
on the housing association movement. A detailed evaluation is
required which considers not only the efficiency savings of the
Corporation working with fewer larger associations but also in
terms of the costs and quality of management and maintenance.
(Paragraph 87)
20. Housing association
development and management can be made more efficient but reforms
should not be driven through that undermine the advantages of
their developments in terms of providing responsive local management.
The Housing Corporation's vision for housing associations should
enshrine that requirement in all its funding decisions and only
approve funding applications from associations which have local
management arrangements in place. Effective service delivery to
tenants should be the key driver of any moves to rationalise the
number of housing associations. Where associations are proving
inefficient or not providing a good service incentives and penalties
should be considered to encourage rationalisation. (Paragraph
88)
21. There is a need
for associations of varying types and sizes to meet the specific
needs of local communities. There are too many small associations
in some areas with problems of low demand housing which are adding
to the complexity of assembling sites. The Housing Corporation
needs to look at encouraging housing associations to set up neighbourhood
management organisations which could manage the local stock of
a number of associations. (Paragraph 89)
Regulation and Inspection
22. The
Government must ensure that the costs to housing associations
of inspection and regulation are not excessive. It should require
the Corporation to produce a plan for the strategic regulation
of housing associations which will streamline the regulatory burden.
It should consider setting up a single regulatory body or at least
aligning the different regimes to streamline the process and avoid
duplication. (Paragraph 96)
23. The Government
needs to review the Housing Corporation's powers to respond to
the inspections carried out by the Audit Commission. With the
new emphasis on housing associations providing quality services,
the Housing Corporation needs intermediate powers to influence
how services are delivered without imposing supervision or a statutory
inquiry. (Paragraph 99)
24. There is potential
confusion between the roles of the Housing Corporation and the
Audit Commission in terms of assessing the quality of management
of services by housing association. The ODPM needs to clarify
the distinctive regulatory and inspection roles of the Housing
Corporation and the Audit Commission. (Paragraph 104)
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