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


Memorandum by English Partnerships (THC 20)

INTRODUCTION

  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.

THE ROLE OF ENGLISH PARTNERSHIPS

  2.  English Partnerships is the national regeneration agency, helping Government support high quality sustainable growth in England.

Specifically, the Sustainable Communities Plan has given EP a clear role in:

    —  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.


 
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