ROOF Blog

A garden created by homeless and disadvantaged people and prisoners has won silver at the Chelsea Flower Show. The garden is a collaboration between the Eden Project, Homes and Communities Agency and Homeless Link, and around 200 volunteers, most of whom are currently using homelessness services or in prison.

Meanwhile a report has found that poor quality housing is holding back the economic potential of the North. The report says that northern towns and cities have a poor range of housing, in particular a lack of high quality residential homes which is limiting the potential of the region. Greater diversity of stock is needed to attract key workers to industries in the knowledge economies – a ‘vital area of growth for the North’. The report calls for the Homes and Communities Agency to switch its funding from the decent homes programme to a more broadly focused decent neighbourhood programme.

The Audit Commission has warned that pathfinder renewal schemes in the north and midlands may struggle to recover from the credit crisis. It said the downturn could not have come at a worse time for the schemes, and it expects the house price gap between pathfinder areas and other parts of the country will widen again. The commission called on the Homes and Communities Agency to monitor the pathfinders more closely and to establish a ‘broad vision’ for the programme.

The Homes and Communities Agency has released details of the £635 million in extra housing funding announced in April’s budget. Benefitting most with £400 million is the kickstart housing delivery programme, which will unlock building sites that have stalled, but where development could otherwise proceed immediately. A further £100 million has also been given to deliver new council homes for social rent, with all homes being completed in the financial year 2010/11.

The Homes and Communities Agency has invested in a community land trust scheme for the first time since its launch last year. The scheme, to which the HCA has contributed £212,000 of the £650,000 development costs, will build four affordable homes on the grounds of a property on Holy Island in Northumberland.

The Homes and Communities Agency has released plans to encourage private investors, including pension funds, to invest in private rented housing. Around eight organisations thought to include two housing associations and a couple of pension funds have been in talks with the HCA about building new properties, although the British Property Federation has warned the initiative may not be enough without changes to stamp duty charges for large scale investors.

The Homes and Communities Agency has appointed six industry experts to provide independent advice on design and sustainability. The group will provide an impartial annual review of how the HCA performs and how it can improve its policies and procedures in standards of design, including sustainability in development.

The Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) and CABE have announced they are teaming up to improve the design quality of new homes, following the publication of a survey into the design of new affordable housing. The Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) and CABE have announced they are teaming up to improve the design quality of new homes, following the publication of a survey into the design of new affordable housing. The findings showed nearly that 61 per cent of housing schemes were average and 18 per cent good or very good, compared with 21 per cent assessed as poor including a ‘lack of distinctiveness’ and having design that ‘does not correspond to its context’. The report recommends closer working between registered social landlords (RSLs) and local planning authorities, and enforcing minimum design standards. In a joint statement the HCA and Cabe said: ‘The HCA will continue to promote high standards of quality in all the housing it funds… CABE will continue to support the HCA and RSLs across the country to make this a reality.’

The Homes and Communities Agency is in talks with groups such as Legal & General about the way for institutional investors to build social housing. Gordon Brown is keen to find ways to increase the amount of housing, and a new public-private fund with the HCA putting equity into schemes and offering rental guarantees for the first two years of ownership is expected to be announced around the budget on 22 April.

The HCA delivered about 50,000 affordable homes in England and increased rental and low cost home ownership in the past financial year. Its latest accounts show it invested £3.9 billion on housing and regeneration.

Homes and Communities Agency is looking at how it could contribute more towards bringing empty homes back into use, using part of its £8.4 billion affordable housing budget. However, it has warned that it could not bring all 700,000 empty homes back into use because homes would have to be of the right type and in the right place.