Memorandum by the Countryside Agency (THC
16)
The Countryside Agency has a close working relationship
with the Housing Corporation, that it greatly values. Affordable
housing needs are especially acute in the smallest rural settlements
and the Corporation's rural programme—targeting places with
fewer than 3,000 population—has been extremely important,
even if has been unable to match needs. It is important that a
national target for the smallest settlements is retained. The
new partnering arrangements for housing association funding present
both some risks and opportunities for smaller, rural associations.
Evaluation of the pilots would, therefore, be useful.
1. The Countryside Agency is the government's
statutory adviser on the English Countryside. We aim to make the
quality of life better for people in the countryside and the quality
of the countryside better for everyone. Our objectives are to
conserve and enhance the countryside; spread social and economic
opportunity for the people who live and work there; and to help
everyone, wherever they live, to enjoy the countryside and share
in this priceless national asset. We seek to achieve our aims
through increasing understanding of the issues, influencing policy-makers
and practitioners, and demonstrating practical solutions to problems.
2. The Agency does not have a direct role
in housing provision, but its impact on rural communities, economies
and the countryside environment are of great significance. The
main focus of our housing work is seeking ways to improve the
supply of affordable housing for rural communities. At the same
time, we seek to mitigate the impact of development pressures
on the countryside, through issues such as its design, location,
scale, community involvement and the provision of green space.
RURAL HOUSING
NEED
3. The shortage of affordable housing is
one of the most critical issues affecting the future of the countryside
and rural communities. Some progress has been made in recent years
with measures to increase the supply of affordable housing in
the countryside, but it is widely recognised that supply has no
kept pace with demand, and there is certainly scope for further
policy action. Without any further increase in the supply of affordable
rural housing, many of those in rural communities (especially,
but not only, young adults) will find it difficult to remain there.
4. There are no nationally agreed figures
on the scale of need for affordable rural housing. However, the
Agency has estimated that there is a need for at least 10,000
new affordable homes per annum in rural districts, just to meet
the needs of households who already live in those areas. About
half this need is market towns and half in smaller settlements,
with a population under 3,000 where bringing forward development
tends to be hardest.
THE HOUSING
CORPORATION
5. The provision of affordable housing in
rural England is a strategic priority of the Housing Corporation.
Following the Government's Rural White Paper, the Housing Corporation
issued its response, Housing in Rural England (October
2001). This set out how the Corporation would contribute to the
sustainability and regeneration in the towns and villages of rural
England. The Corporation made a commitment to "think rural",
by rural proofing its policies and procedures, which the Agency
very much welcomes. This document is backed up by the Corporation's
Rural Strategy (November 2001), setting out in more detail how
it intends to achieve its rural vision.
6. The Housing Corporation's special rural
programme recognises the problem of delivering affordable housing
in rural areas by allocating some of its funding specifically
for affordable homes in settlements of less than 3,000 people.
The target for the rural programme was recently increased slightly
by the ODPM Sustainable Communities Plan, to 3,500 homes over
the two year period, 2004 to 2006. This programme and target for
the smallest rural communities, where affordability issues are
at their most acute, has been extremely valuable and needs to
be retained or, preferably, enhanced.
7. The Countryside Agency works closely
with the Housing Corporation, including:
— sitting on both the Housing Corporation's
Rural Advisory Group and its Rural Practitioners Group;
— commissioning or undertaking joint
research, good practice and publications from time to time;
— joint work to monitor progress with
the Rural White Paper headline indicator on affordable homes;
— collaboration regionally to help
the Housing Corporation deliver its rural programme; and
— partnership funding for the network
of Rural Housing Enablers (see below).
RURAL HOUSING
ENABLERS (RHES)
8. The Countryside Agency has taken the
lead in establishing a network of RHEs, to work with communities,
local authorities, housing associations, landowners and others,
identifying local housing needs and bringing parties together
to help the development process for affordable housing. The Housing
Corporation have been the other national funding partner (with
the Countryside Agency) for the RHE programme. The Countryside
Agency has provided 50% funding for the posts for their first
three years, with the possibility of 33% funding for a further
two years. The Housing Corporation have provided up to 33% match-funding
since 2001. The remaining funding is provided by local partners—local
authorities and housing associations. There are currently 37 RHE
posts across the country, most covering an individual county (eg
Kent, Cumbria), though some larger counties have more than one
post. Over the 21 month period April 2002 to December 2003, they
have completed some 245 parish level housing needs surveys and
identified over 3,000 people in immediate housing need. In the
year 2002-03 the RHEs then in post identified 123 possible development
sites and were involved with 113 new housing units. These figures
are rising as the posts become more established.
9. RHEs also play a valuable role, by providing
advice and input to regional and local strategies that impact
on affordable housing. This includes local authority housing strategies
and local plans. Some RHEs have helped to secure innovative local
approaches to the provision of affordable rural housing.
RECENT CHANGES
IN HOUSING
CORPORATION FINANCE
10. The Re-inventing Investment policy paper
and National Investment Policy 2004-05—2005-06 document,
published by the Housing Corporation in October 2003, set out
a new approach to the Corporation's investment programme. The
main thrust of the policy is to seek greater cost effectiveness
and the best possible value for money. To achieve this, a new
partnering route is being piloted in which associations were invited
to put forward significant two year development programmes. Subject
to certain selection tests, such a financial viability, regulatory
performance and a track record of delivery, associations could
bid for resources and bids were assessed by the Corporation on
the level of social housing grant believed to be required.
11. The Countryside Agency recognises that
the new partnering programme may provide opportunities for smaller
and rural housing associations to form consortiums with larger
associations or to provide a specialist service in pre-development
or development. There are also potential benefits from the removal
of the Total Cost Indicators and standard grant rates, and from
having a longer term planned programme of activity. That said,
there is a risk that the move towards larger programmes of work
and the use of selection criteria could disadvantage small associations
working in rural areas.
12. The Countryside Agency hopes that the
new arrangements will be carefully monitored and evaluated, to
test their impact, including on rural areas and whether any modifications
will be needed. It would also be helpful to identify good practice,
whilst the partnering arrangements are at a pilot stage and before
they are expanded. Any evaluation could also explore issues such
as the impact on the type, location, design and grant per unit
of housing provided. One particular question will be what proportion
of the partnering programme is rural, compared with the traditional
programme.
NEW REGIONAL
ARRANGEMENTS
13. The Sustainable Communities Plan produced
by ODPM introduced Regional Housing Boards (RHBs) who have responsibility
for producing regional housing strategies. The Government included
rural housing as one of the national priorities for the RHBs and
asked the Agency to help with rural proofing of the regional housing
strategies.
14. We believe there is some uncertainty
about the balance between national priorities and the discretion
given to Regional Housing Boards. Given competing priorities for
resources, there is a danger that, with the strong focus on growth
areas and on urban renewal, rural needs will be "squeezed
out". Our research found a mixed picture from the first set
of regional housing strategies, in terms of rural content. All
of the strategies did make some commitment to a rural programme
for now. But we recommend the retention of national rural programme
target, so that smaller rural communities do not lose out over
time. In our view the Housing Corporation has a valuable role
to play, in advising and influencing its partners on each of the
RHBs about the level of rural housing need in each region and
how best to meet those needs.
14. Market towns have the capacity to provide
locations for housing serving them and their rural hinterlands.
In particular, they may be the best locations for housing for
young people or older people and supported housing for those with
particular needs, where higher density developments are suitable
and where access to certain services are critical. However, currently
market towns appear to be receiving little investment. We believe
that more attention should be paid to market towns, though this
should not be at the expense of smaller rural settlements.
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