Archives for March 2007
Housing Corporation chief set for Croydon role
Housing Corporation chief executive Jon Rouse is to be installed as the new chief executive of the London Borough of Croydon.
At the age of 38, Mr Rouse will become one of the youngest leading figures ever installed at a major unitary authority as well as only the sixth chief executive of Croydon in the past 70 years.
An official announcement is expected this week, with the move due to take place by mid-summer.
David Wechsler has held the role for the past 14 years, but is retiring after 37 years with the south London council.
Expressing his disappointment at not being able to participate in the formation of Communities England, Mr Rouse praised the leadership of the Housing Corporation’s chairman, Peter Dixon.
“I could not have asked for a more supportive environment,” he said. “Working with the board and colleagues, we have significantly improved the performance of the organisation on all fronts and won the confidence of external stakeholders.
“I am proud of our achievements.”
Housing Corporation chairman Peter Dixon said: “The current profile of social housing and its increased prominence in both local and national thinking owe much to his energy and enthusiasm.”
Eagerly awaiting the arrival of the chief executive, Croydon council leader Mike Fisher added: “He is highly regarded by many distinguished figures with whom he has worked closely and his accomplishments in the spheres of housing, regeneration and planning should stand him in good stead for many of the challenges Croydon is currently facing.”
Croydon is the largest borough in the capital, with a population of more than 340,000.
Swathes of derelict land regenerated in past decade
Derelict land in England with the equivalent area of 4,500 football pitches has been put back into use in the past ten years, according to new research.
Former coalfield areas around the country have also helped generate over 16,000 jobs, it was announced at the sixth National Coalfield Conference in Rotherham. This equates to four jobs per day since the late 1990s.
Ten years of work by the National Coalfield Programme and Coalfield Regeneration Trust has also helped convert twice the area of Trafalgar Square every day into office space.
Deprived areas of England thrown into poverty by the collapse of the coal industry have been turned around by ten years of work and government investment to the tune of £374 million, speakers at the conference revealed.
“The transformation of many of our coalfield areas has been dramatic,” said housing minister Yvette Cooper. “When the pits were closed many coalfield communities saw soaring unemployment and their communities were devastated.
“Now, thanks to coalfield regeneration, the jobs are coming back. Many former miners have had training to get new jobs and whole communities are being revived.”
Additional funding of £20 million to regenerate six sites around the country was also confirmed at the Rotherham conference this week.
“Today six more sites, from Kent to Tyneside, will now become part of our regeneration programme and a further £20 million is going directly to the communities who need it most,” Ms Cooper explained.
By 2012, the government hopes to have brought 4,000 hectares of derelict land back into use, creating 2,000,000 square metres of office space, 8,000 new homes and establishing 42,000 new jobs.
LGA proposes council tax reform
The Local Government Association (LGA), which represents around 400 councils in England and Wales, has put forward plans for a major reform to council taxes.
The association’s comments precede the publication of Sir Michael Lyons’ long-awaited report into the financing of local government.
Central to the recommendations from the LGA are plans for central government to provide more funding for local services, with a hefty increase from the current figure of £3.1 billion.
Such a move would see less of a burden placed on individuals and businesses.
Sandy Bruce-Lockhart, the chairman of the LGA, commented: “The council tax system is unfair, unsustainable and in desperate need of wholesale reform.
“Much of the failing of the present system can be attributed to political short-termism, confusion and a failure of will to reform a structure that is decades out of date.”
Other plans put forward by the LGA include an independent commission on government funding.
The Lyons Inquiry report is set to be revealed tomorrow.
£3m Beacon subsidy shared by 48 local authorities
Forty-eight local authorities walked away with a share of £3 million in government funding last night at the 2007 Beacon Awards.
Rewarding successful local provisions and quality community services, the prizes were given to the authorities that have demonstrated the most proactive approach to local governance in the past 12 months.
Winners will be expected to use the subsidies to foster further innovations, to continue to share best practice and, ultimately, to improve public services across the country.
“I would like to congratulate all the authorities that have been awarded Beacon status this year,” said local government minister Angela Smith.
“You really are our local champions who have demonstrated service excellence, innovation and determination to share your expertise and act as a catalyst for improvements in other authorities too.”
She added that those short-listed for a handout could be “justifiably proud”, hoping that the innovations demonstrated by the winners would rub off on to other authorities.
A full list of the winners can be found here.
Lyons report recommends council tax revaluation
Sir Michael Lyons has published his highly anticipated report on council tax, calling for two new price bands at either end of the housing spectrum.
Those entitled to tax benefits should also receive them automatically, rather than having to claim them, the Place-Shaping: A Shared Vision for the Future of Local Government review recommends.
He has urged ministers to consider allocating a fixed proportion of council tax income to local governments, to introduce a tourist tax in certain regions and to cap levies on empty commercial properties.
Before any changes can come into effect, however, council tax price bands will have to be revaluated, a process that will take several years.
Responding to the recommendations, local government minister Phil Woolas confirmed that Communities and Local Government would exempt charities from a business rate charge on unused premises, but suggested that a revaluation would not occur during the lifetime of the current parliament.
“The evidence in the inquiry shows that a revaluation would not have a significant impact on the fairness of council tax relative to income,” he explained.
“Sir Michael has said that there is no magic bullet or simple solution to local government funding. We agree. We also support his conclusions that the council tax is not broken.”
Mr Woolas also noted that, at 96.8 per cent, the council tax collection rate was at its highest ever.
The Lyons report was commissioned by the prime minister and Gordon Brown in 2004.
Single household growth driving housing demand
The rise in single households is the most significant factor fuelling housing demand and household growth in the UK, new government statistics suggest.
Compiled by Communities and Local Government (CLG), a study investigating the housing demographic in England and how it will develop over the next two decades indicates that the number of new households in the country will rise by 223,000 each year.
Around 70 per cent of this annual growth will be accounted for by a rise in the number of single households. A third of these individuals will be over the age of 65, as the population grows older as well as more insular.
Net international migration will continue to account for a third of household growth in England, according to CLG.
“These figures show why it’s right to build more homes to meet the needs of the next generation,” said housing minister Yvette Cooper. “We have a growing population with people living longer and more of us are living alone.”
Official statistics estimate that average life expectancy in England is currently 81.6 years for men and 85.2 years for women.
New Bristol housing system goes live
A new allocation system for council housing in Bristol goes live today (March 16th).
The system places all applicants for housing into one of five bands, depending on the urgency of their case.
When a property becomes available, it will be allocated to the person who has specified that type of property and waited the longest in the highest band.
The top band will be reserved for people whose situation is particularly acute, for example homeless families, sufferers of domestic violence and urgent medical cases.
Councillor John Kiely, executive member for Housing and Adult Community Care, said: “The introduction of the banding system is an important step towards improving the way social housing in Bristol is allocated.”
He added: “The banding system is also simpler than the old points and priority system, making it much easier to understand and more user friendly.”
Letters will be sent to applicants over the next three weeks to inform them which band they are in.
Bristol city council administers a housing register for 29,000 council homes, with a further 10,000 homes being managed by housing association partners.
Report recommends radical housing plans
A report is recommending radical new ideas to alleviate Britain’s housing shortage – particularly for the less well-off.
In the report, which was commissioned by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, Professor Duncan Maclennan finds that new housing provision for low income households lies well below the output of the mid-1990s.
The result is that the government is failing to adequately reduce homelessness, while too many young people contend with inadequate homes and poor neighbourhoods, according to the report.
Now Professor Maclennan is suggesting that long-term tenants in social housing could benefit from a share of the increased value of their homes.
“If the widening gap between the wealth of homeowners and those renting is to be halted, we need to introduce mechanisms so that they can benefit from increased values of the homes in which they live,” he said.
“This could be translated into providing those who no longer fall within the greatest housing need with a deposit to help them onto the property ladder, thereby freeing up social housing for those in greater need.”
Recently Ruth Kelly, secretary of state for Communities and Local Government, claimed Britain is on the verge of a “golden age” in housing policies.
Social HomeBuy pilot reaches 78 housing associations
Seventy-eight housing associations from around the country have been chosen to pilot the Social HomeBuy scheme, the Housing Corporation has announced.
The associations will offer approximately 2,000 social tenants the opportunity to purchase their current home, with shared-ownership options and discounts. Ideal candidates for the pilot are those who do not qualify for the Right to Buy or Right to Acquire initiatives.
“Nearly 80 housing associations are now piloting Social HomeBuy, offering a substantial opportunity for the sector to test out how best to open up this opportunity to meet the aspirations of social tenants,” said Housing Corporation director Richard Hill.
“This scheme provides an important contribution to meeting the Hills recommendation on widening the opportunities for those in social housing,” he added.
Four housing associations successfully bid for the initial Social HomeBuy pilot in October 2005, before another 37 joined in June 2006.
Discounts offered by the scheme range from £9,000 to £16,000 depending on location, though the concession will be repayable if the property is sold within five years.
The Housing Corporation is due to merge with English Partnerships and elements of Communities and Local Government to form a new national housing agency known as Communities England.
New housing publication highlights modern approach to construction
A significant proportion of new properties are built using efficient techniques, according to a new publication created in unison by the Housing Corporation and English Partnerships.
Modern Talking reveals that 41 per cent of affordable homes built last year were made using modern approaches to construction, whereas the government target was just 25 per cent.
Housing associations and developers are embracing efficient methods, which have helped them to cut costs and construct more homes for less, the publication concludes.
“Modern Talking is a fantastic testament to the work of affordably housing providers and their ability to respond to the challenge to build better, cheaper homes using modern approaches to construction,” said Peter Dixon, chairman of the Housing Corporation.
“The challenge now is to build upon this experience further and embed the best of modern practice into the mainstream. I have every confidence that the affordable housing sector will achieve this and continue to be at the cutting edge of efficient methods of construction,” he continued.
The Housing Corporation has also now released an updated version of the Capacity Model, a tool that allows funding chiefs to assess how each housing provider is placed to take on new affordable housing stock.
Initially unveiled in 2005, the new version features Monte Carlo Analysis – among other things – that allows organisations to consider their future financial risk.