HCA welcomes RDA asset transfer

Commenting on government’s agreement today to transfer the Regional Development Agency (RDA) land and property assets to the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA), Pat Ritchie, chief executive of the HCA, said:

“We welcome today’s announcement, which sets out a key role for the HCA to work with local partners to deliver economic and regeneration benefits to communities from RDA assets. This builds on our land and property expertise and our strong partnerships with Local Authorities and Local Enterprise Partnerships to ensure value for money from those assets.”

The RDA assets will be transferred as a National Programme to the HCA, who will  be accountable to Government for the effective management and disposal of the portfolio. The HCA will work with local partners to develop, invest in and dispose of assets, through stewardship arrangements, in pursuit of the economic development and regeneration objectives agreed by local partners including Local Enterprise Partnerships and in support of local strategies." 

Mrs Ritchie added:

“To this end the HCA will be establishing Local Stewardship Partnerships with the Local Authorities, Local Enterprise Partnerships, businesses and other local partners.

“They will play a key role in helping to determine the future of these assets in line with local objectives, and the HCA, while managing the portfolio at national level, will ensure that the benefits of development – jobs, businesses and  homes – are delivered in the local areas where the assets are located. This will make a major contribution to the localism agenda.

“We hope to be in a position to confirm further details of the asset portfolio over the course of the summer.”

The process to transfer the RDA land and property assets to the HCA is due for completion on September 19.

Read the Written Ministerial Statement.

More information here.

Ends

For more media information please contact Helen Stoddart in the HCA press office, 020 7874 8263 / helen.stoddart@hca.gsx.gov.uk

Notes to Editors

The HCA will be inheriting a national portfolio of land and property assets from the RDAs,.  This includes a number of coalfield sites previously owned by the HCA (as English Partnerships) and transferred to the RDAs. These will form part of the HCA’s land and regeneration offer. The detail is subject to further discussion.

The RDA asset portfolio will sit as a dedicated programme within the HCA’s work. There will be a transfer of staff from the RDAs to the HCA in accordance with TUPE regulations. More details on this are expected later in the year. The exception is London where the London Development Agency’s assets will be transferred to the GLA (see below).

The closure of the 9 Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) for England was announced in the Budget on 22 June 2010.  The RDAS were created by primary legislation through the Regional Development Agencies Act in 1998 and legislation will therefore be required to close them.  For the 8 RDAs outside London this will be through the Public Bodies Bill. For the London Development Agency it will be the Localism Bill, since changes to the government of London more generally are also being made through that bill.

The key benefits of the HCA’s stewardship arrangement are to:
•    Offer influence in circumstances where local authorities and community organisations are not in a position to pay market value for assets.
•    Remove Tax Challenges through a state to state transaction avoiding the tax and local authority borrowing challenges.
•    Give local partners time to align assets with new Government economic growth programmes, and for longer term RDA projects inherited in the asset base to reach full maturity. This will maximise value for money.
•    Avoid sales at low value reducing the risk of the market being flooded by mass sales of assets at a weak point in the market.
•    Offer a single residuary body arrangement to Government, maximising the potential to manage receipts and commitments over the current Spending Period.  
•    Achieve localism by aligning these assets with the interests of local partners.

The Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) is leading the process for closure, working closely with DCLG, HM Treasury and the Government departments who fund projects and programmes currently being delivered by the RDAs. The HCA is playing a key advisory role in the process.

It is anticipated that the RDAs closure process will be completed by March 2012.
 

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.