Half the homes built in England by March 2011 to be funded by HCA: funds slashed from next year onwards

Around half of the 260,000 new homes projected to be built in England this year and next will be directly funded by the Homes and Communities Agency. However, with £80 million from the 2010-11 budget of HCA funding for its property and regeneration programme having been 'pulled forward' to 2009-10 as part of the Government's response to the recession, future funds will drop from £406 million this year to £211 million in 2010-11.

Both the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats have suggested that they would scrap the HCA following election success next year, unless it substantialy improved its delivery record.

HCA chief executive Sir Bob Kerslake, according to regen.net, stressed that £620 million would still be spent on the programme over the next two years. But he said that the 'vast bulk' of the money would go on existing commitments, with 'probably be very little' unallocated money to give to schemes next year.

The HCA Corporate Plan, which covers the period April 2009 to March 2011, outlines how it will use £6.75bn of its budget to directly deliver 117,000 new homes, the vast majority of which will be for affordable rent or sale. Thousands more homes will be unlocked by this funding and by the Agency’s wider regeneration and growth activities with a total budget of £13.6bn. Projections by real estate service provider Savills, estimate the total number of new homes to be built over the same two year period to stand at around 260,000.

Through the Plan the HCA has pledged to focus on delivery using innovative approaches – such as the Public Land Initiative, new models of investment and private rental activity – and to maximise the scale and impact of its Programmes.

There is an emphasis on the HCA’s role as a national agency that works locally, and the plan makes clear the importance of its delivery partners. The Agency has also signalled its intent to move away from individual Programme budgets towards a more integrated approach, giving greater flexibility to target funding where maximum outputs can be achieved. The HCA anticipates investment decisions taken over the two years covered by the Plan to be informed by this new approach.

A requirement to invest in training and apprenticeship schemes will be built into all HCA funding agreements with housebuilders and contractors to help create jobs and ensure that there is a skilled workforce available in the sector when the economy picks up again.

HCA chief executive, Sir Bob Kerslake, said: 'This Plan sets out our stall for the next two years. We will continue to put a premium on new and affordable homes, but we are about building communities as well so regeneration, improving existing stock and promoting sustainability will also be critically important.

'We will continue to be creative in identifying new forms of funding and new opportunities for delivery. Despite the continued challenging market conditions and tightening public finances, we are determined to deliver on our targets.
'The HCA has a far wider remit than its predecessors, touching on every walk of life, and this is reflected in the breadth and scope of our Plan. The advantages of a single national housing and regeneration agency are already coming through and will become stronger over the period of this Plan.'

Within the affordable housing budget, over 63,000 of the new homes will be for social rent with nearly 43,000 for affordable sale via HomeBuy. An additional £350m will be available to local councils to build new homes for social rent.

As well as funding new housing, in 2009-11 the HCA also has targets to create 319,000 sq m of employment floorspace to help create new jobs; and to bring 715 hectares – an area equivalent to 1000 football pitches – of brownfield land back into productive use.

Nearly £1.7 billion will be spent bringing council stock up to a 21st century standard via the Decent Homes Programme and a further £918 million will be invested in Growth and Infrastructure, including in the Thames Gateway. The 12 Housing Market Renewal areas will see investment of £657m.

Quality will underpin the Agency’s activities with a new unified set of quality standards, and environmental sustainability will continue to be a focus through initiatives such as the Social Housing Energy Savings Programme designed to help tackle climate change and reduce energy bills for residents.

Building the skills, knowledge and capacity of the HCA’s partners is also a key component of the Agency’s Corporate Plan, led by the HCA Academy, and backed by the commitment to training and apprenticeships. In particular the Academy aims to have 100,000 people undertaking training influenced by its Skills Action Plan over the two year period.

The Plan also details for the first time the HCA’s intention to add a wider set of performance indicators, beyond hard outputs, against which to judge its performance. A series of ‘ultimate outcomes’ will complement outputs to provide a better measure of the Agency’s impact. While they won’t be considered formal targets, they will help indicate where the collective initiatives of the HCA and its partners are helping improve each local place and the quality of life for local people.

Sir Bob added: 'In terms of how we judge success, we will not only rely on physical outputs, but will look at a wider set of indicators – how we have added value as an Agency; how we have helped with health, education, jobs and the general wellbeing of communities; and how we have helped local councils realise their ambitions for their areas.
'It all adds up to a clear focus on delivery, which is what we are here to do.'