Correspondence
Homes and Communities Agency (Transfer of Property etc.) Regulations 2018 (SI 2018/8)
Transfer of surplus land from NHS Trusts for release to market
15.In our 17th Report of the current Session,13 we drew the Homes and Communities Agency (Transfer of Property etc.) Regulations 2018 (SI 2018/8) to the attention of the House, on the ground that they might imperfectly achieve their policy objectives. The Regulations designated 16 NHS Trusts that could transfer surplus land to the Homes and Communities Agency (now renamed Homes England), to be developed for housing. We commented on such transfers in the context of the Government’s plans for “Homes for Nurses”.
16.We wrote to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on 31 January, seeking more detail about the Government’s plans. On 8 February, Lord O’Shaughnessy, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health, replied, explaining in particular that, while the Regulations were important for the disposal of the surplus health estate, his Department did not expect that land transferred to Homes England would deliver the “homes for staff” policy. We are publishing this correspondence at Appendix 3.
13 17th Report, Session 2017-19 (HL Paper 71).