1. English Partnerships (EP) welcomes the
opportunity to give evidence to the Committee's inquiry. This
memorandum concentrates on our joint working with the Housing
Corporation, focussing in particular on the work of The Housing
Partnership, our joint unit created with the Corporation last
year.
2. English Partnerships is the national
regeneration agency, helping Government support high quality sustainable
growth in England.
— Four growth areas in the south;
— The creation of a new Brownfield strategy;
— The creation of a register of "surplus"
public sector land.
— Nine market renewal pathfinder areas
in the north/midlands;
— Nine Regional Housing Boards linked to
a new emphasis on housing and communities.
3. EP role can summarised as:
— Developing our own portfolio of strategic
sites;
— Acting as the Government's specialist
advisor on brownfield land;
— Making sure that surplus Government land
is used to support wider Government objectives, especially the
implementation of the Sustainable Communities Plan;
— Helping to create communities where people
can afford to live and where people want to live;
— Supporting the urban renaissance by improving
the quality of our towns and cities.
These activities provide a close and complementary
fit with the objectives of the Housing Corporation and other partners.
HISTORICAL RELATIONSHIP
WITH THE
CORPORATION
4. English Partnerships and the Housing Corporation
have had formal links dating back over 20 years. Our predecessor
organisations—The Urban Regeneration Agency (URA) and the
Commission for New Towns (CNT) each had specific involvement in
the provision of social housing.
5. EP (as the Urban Regeneration Agency) and
the Housing Corporation had a funding protocol whereby EP, through
the Partnership Investment Programme (PIP) funded the site-based
costs of RSL schemes and development subsidy was met by the Housing
Corporation.
6. CNT also had a Memorandum of Understanding
with the Housing Corporation on the provision of Social Housing.
The CNT had well established links with the Corporation regionally,
inevitably with a clear focus on the new towns, which has continued
with English Partnerships, particularly in Milton Keynes
7. There is also a long working history with
individual Housing Associations/RSLs with numerous project financed
through the Partnership Investment Programme (eg St Bede's Island—Leicester:
£4.6 million of PIP funding with the City Council, providing
a mixed development including RSL, private and sheltered accommodation).
8. English Partnerships worked well with the
Housing Corporation to commission, produce and launch the Urban
Design Compendium in 2000 and, with the then DTLR, jointly
commissioned CABE to run a series of Design Seminars in 2002.
9. However, it is true to say that although these
formal links had been long established, there was no really close
relationship between the two bodies, and no systematic attempt
to see where real added value could be gained from working together
more closely. Several changes occurred in the summer of 2002 that
have altered the nature of the relationship very much for the
better.
A CHANGE FOR
THE BETTER
10. Following Government's Fundamental Review
of English Partnerships in July 2002, three important changes
took place:
— English Partnerships was given an explicit
role in the provision of affordable housing. It was clear that
this would need a closer and more proactive working relationship
with The Housing Corporation to better coordinate investment programmes
and get best value from available resources.
— The Chairs of both organisations agreed
a Memorandum of Understanding in September 2002 which identified
areas of common interest, established mechanisms to share market
intelligence and research and set out an agreed approach for the
provision of affordable housing in English Partnerships projects.
It set out closer working arrangements particularly in the south
east to accommodate growth and in the Housing Market Renewal Pathfinder
areas, the establishment of demonstration projects and possibilities
for secondment and the exchange of information.
— Encouraged by ODPM, the two organisations
set up a formal joint unit to bring together the expertise and
knowledge of each body in order to develop new and better ways
of working. The Deputy Prime Minister appointed the Chief Executive
of each organisation to sit on the others' Board. The objective
was to encourage joint working from the top down.
11. These three important changes, sponsored
by ODPM, have led to much improved relationships and a really
strong understanding of how to get better value for money from
operating on a joint basis. We welcome the change and have embraced
these opportunities enthusiastically. Because the Housing Partnership
represents the focal point for our joint working, some examples
of its work are set out below.
12. In September 2003, The Housing Partnership
announced plans for upwards of 1,000 more affordable homes to
be built in areas of housing pressure. The scheme was based on
English Partnerships providing 56 sites in the Greater South East
most of which were very small and, if developed individually,
would have been expensive to bring forward. By parcelling these
sites into a larger project, and by providing Social Housing Grant,
the scheme has been able to achieve better value for money and
economies of scale for the two Housing Associations that were
chosen, in competition, as developers. This is one example where,
by pooling the resources of both organisations, more can be achieved
for the public purse, and a project can be accelerated.
13. In September 2003, The Housing Partnership
also announced a new type of competition for RSLs—a direct
consequence of staff in English Partnerships and the Housing Corporation
working more closely on supply side issues. Site D at Broughton
Atterbury in Milton Keynes is a site covering an area of 3.56
ha and could accommodate more than 200 homes in a mix of houses
and apartments. The houses will be specified to high environmental
standards (Excellent Eco Homes rating) and at a density of 56
units per hectare. A minimum of 50% of the development must involve
Modern Methods of Construction. The Housing Partnership expects
the site to support 70% for sale units and 30% affordable/key
worker homes. But this competition is a demonstration project,
and only RSLs are being invited to bid as lead developers on this
site, rather than being brought in by a private developer once
the site is secured. This project will assess how well RSLs are
fitted to act as lead developers in mixed tenure developments,
their appetite and capacity for doing so, and the impact on levels
of Social Housing Grant when competitions are set up in this way.
If successful, this will introduce powerful new competition into
the market with RSLs acting as lead developers.
14. A range of other policy and practical work
is now being undertaken by The Housing Partnership to bring forward
new ways of cooperating that can offer better value for money
for public investment in housing. The Unit's role is to act as
a catalyst and develop new approaches that are then delivered
through each of the organisations.
OTHER AREAS
OF JOINT
WORKING
15. English Partnerships and the Corporation
also now work closely at the regional level, both bringing their
specific skills and resources to the Regional Housing Boards.
In addition, we have co-located some of our regional teams.
16. In the four Growth Areas of the wider south
east, joint working will be essential including through the range
of new delivery vehicles such as the EP-led Milton Keynes vehicle
and new UDCs. English Partnerships is working with the Corporation
and CABE to set up a Growth Area Housing Quality Forum. This brings
together senior representatives from organisations with a stake
in the housing growth areas—local authorities, house builders,
RSLs, development agencies, and others—with the objective
of promoting principles and practice of design quality across
the four growth areas.
17. EP has a key role to play in each of the
Market Renewal Pathfinder Boards in the North and Midlands and
will continue to search for new opportunities for joint working
and seeks to involve the Housing Corporation/Housing Associations
in its current work relating to our Register of "Surplus"
Public Sector Land; the National Brownfield Strategy; use of gap
funding mechanisms; and on our new London Wide Affordable Housing
Initiative which is seeking to create a development mechanism
capable of delivering significant numbers of affordable new homes
over the next five year period.
18. English Partnerships also works closely with
Housing Associations on individual projects, such as :
— Greenwich Millennium Village; The Village
is being developed by Greenwich Millennium Village Ltd (GMVL),
a joint venture between Countryside Properties and Taylor Woodrow.
GMVL works in association with its social housing partners, Moat
Housing Group and Ujima Housing Association.
The Village currently has planning permission for
1,377 mixed tenure homes, with 172 rental properties, 54 for shared
ownership and 40 on a flexible tenure basis. The 266 homes set
aside for social housing make up 20% of the dwellings.
— Broughton Atterbury, Milton Keynes—on
the eastern edge of Milton Keynes, is being developed by EP as
a new economically and socially mixed community of some 1,500
people (930 homes including 30% affordable). The masterplan, developed
in partnership with the local community, is structured around
a parkland setting with a strong emphasis on the retention and
enhancement of existing landscape features and includes range
of social and retail facilities. The North British Housing Association
is a key partner.
MAKING SURE
THAT JOINT
WORKING STICKS
19. We believe that the recent changes made
to joint working have made a real difference in the last two years.
Staff in each organisation have stronger links and a far better
understanding of where and how best to collaborate. We are pleased
to have the Chief Executive of The Housing Corporation on our
Board. We encourage secondments and we hope to schedule joint
training events over 2004-05. We are changing the basis of remuneration
for our senior staff so that any bonus paid must reflect effective
joint working and must be based on evidence where such joint working
has achieved better value for money and better quality of outcomes.
We believe that this signals the seriousness with which we are
taking this new approach of working together.
