HCA approach to deliver housing ambitions

Targets for affordable housing delivery over the next four years, and a planned approach to contribute to economic growth and meet local priorities have been set out by the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) today.

The HCA’s Corporate Plan 2011-15 details how the national housing and regeneration agency will use its £8bn of capital funding to deliver nearly 160,000 new affordable homes, around 95% of the Government’s aspiration for 170,000, by 2015.  A further 127,000 homes will be brought up to the Decent Homes Standard, while 18,500 homes for market sale will also be completed.

The Agency’s enabling offer is captured for the first time, detailing how the organisation’s skills and expertise can be used as resource by Local Authorities and Local Enterprise Partnerships, to add value to available public investment, with a strong focus on bringing forward more land for development more quickly.

Also outlined are the HCA’s plans for reform, including a new structure and a reduction in operating costs by half, and preparation to take on added responsibilities for RDA land and property assets and social housing regulation, while devolving delivery in London to the Mayor.

Pat Ritchie, chief executive of the HCA, said:

“Our Corporate Plan is the framework that will underpin all of our activities over the next four years.  It formally establishes our role as a local enabling and investment agency.

“We have set challenging targets – particularly in delivering the bulk of Government’s ambition for 170,000 new affordable homes – backed by a strong enabling offer centred on commercial expertise and specialist advice.

“The key to our success will be our commitment to localism.  We will put local authorities and communities in the lead, to deliver what they want, how they want and where they want.”

Indicative targets show that the HCA will deliver an average of 35,000 new affordable homes per year for the first three years of the Spending Review period, rising to 45,000 in 2014/15.  An additional 10,452 homes for affordable sale will be provided through FirstBuy. Nearly 900 hectares of previously developed land will be brought back into beneficial use, helping to remove the blight of dereliction in local communities; while over 400,000 sqm of employment floorspace will help contribute to economic growth and prosperity.

In developing its enabling offer, building on the HCA’s existing approach to local delivery, the Agency will concentrate on five core areas:

• Providing input into land disposal – with a strong commercial focus, including site disposal strategies to increase the amount, and accelerate the release, of land for development, specific tools and vehicles for land disposal, and support with accessing funding;
• Strategic advice on land – including the impact of the New Homes Bonus, market and spatial intelligence, and securing greater private sector investment;
• A strategic role on affordable housing – including financial modelling and analysis, advice on procurement best practice and helping landlords to consider options for their existing homes such as environmental retrofitting;
• Spatial planning support – helping Local Authorities and their partners to unlock planning applications for large developments of particular local importance; and
• Cross-cutting specialist advice – including the impact of new policy decisions, and in turn feeding back to Government on the practical local implications of policy changes. 

In taking on responsibility for the regulation of social housing, the Plan outlines how the Agency intends to keep regulation independent through the creation of a new statutory committee, while reaping the benefits of a combined approach through back office savings and support for existing delivery in relation to assessing capacity and viability in the delivery of affordable homes.

Ends

For more media information please contact Robert Davies in the HCA press office on 020 7881 1624 / robert.davies@hca.gsx.gov.uk. 

Notes to Editors

A copy of the HCA’s Corporate Plan 2011-15 is available to download from the Agency’s website. 

The Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) is the single, national housing and regeneration delivery agency for England.  Our vision is to create opportunity for people to live in homes they can afford in places they want to live, by enabling local authorities and communities to deliver the ambition they have for their own areas.