Introduction :

Let me start by apologising. I am not Jon Rouse - who unfortunately was not able to make it here today. However, I am closely involved in the Corporation’s thinking on how we can develop our working relationship with local government, something I’d like to talk about today. Our shared  relationship is at the heart of the Corporation’s priorities for the next three years and critical to deliver sustainable communities. I will be describing later where we have got to so far.

It is worth reasserting the basics. Housing cannot be delivered in isolation. You can’t look at homes separately from the people who live in them and the communities and neighbourhoods within which they sit. That is why the Housing Corporation is committed to delivering not only affordable homes, but also sustainable communities.

Housing associations are key to delivering that mission. Throughout their history, they have been at the forefront of innovative, locally led and driven approaches, adding value to the neighbourhoods and communities they are a part of.

In the summer we will be publishing a neighbourhood and communities’ strategy.  It will look at how we can further unlock this potential.  At its core will be an ambition to increase the extent to which housing associations can work within, and contribute to, local neighbourhood and community strategies providing more than just affordable housing; also contributing to the delivery of other neighbourhoods facilities and services, working with local  with partners.  The relationship with the town hall, and beyond, will be critical to making this happen.  It is this relationship that I want to focus on today.

But I want to start by looking at why this relationship has become so important, and why it will become even more so. The Housing Corporation has always maintained a strong relationship with local authorities – nationally, regionally and as delivery partners at a local level.  The bottom line is we cannot deliver without your help; without your active participation and your partnership, and we never could.

But a whole series of artificial divisions have grown up in respect of housing.  Between social housing provided by (or transferred to) associations, and social housing provided by local authorities.  Between the social and private sectors.  Between owner occupiers and those renting. Too often housing has been compartmentalised, and the bigger picture neglected.

This reduces our collective ability to meet housing need as effectively as we would wish. At worst it risks becoming a serious impediment to the delivery of the Government’s vision for sustainable communities. But the housing landscape is changing, that fragmentation is being addressed and local authorities are at the centre of the change. 

Change for local government – refreshing the strategic housing role

The joint LEA/CIH strategy paper “Visionary Leadership in Housing”, published late last year, maps out a new and challenging role for local authorities, where success will be judged on an authority’s capacity to understand and manage local housing markets in their entirety - across sectors, regardless of tenure.

It challenges local authorities to create a vision for their  communities, encompassing  the entire housing stock in an area. Managing neighbourhoods to support wider strategies, planning for housing and communities across all tenures and ensuring that the specific support needs of individuals are in place.

The paper asserts that it is to local authorities that Government, partners and communities should look for the local strategic leadership across the housing agenda. At the Housing Corporation we have specifically endorsed the vision set out in that paper. We recognise the role that local authorities can play in providing the energy, vision and drive to help meet housing need and deliver sustainable communities. We want to work with you to make that vision a reality.

Local authorities as custodians of local communities

I don’t think it is controversial however, to suggest that over the last few years, not all local authorities have achieved this. Some authorities, particularly where stock has been transferred, have retained little more than a residual housing function, often hidden in the depths of far bigger social care departments. The loss of LA SHG compounded that loss of priority status.

But administering the housing register cannot be enough. It leaves a gap. Local government needs to assume a key leadership role in relation to housing; across all sectors, tenure and markets; acting not just as a planning authority but in David Miliband’s words as “a custodian of local communities”.   
 
Forward looking local authorities are already delivering on this.  The Housing Corporation works on a day to day basis with authorities across the country, identifying sites, agreeing partners, delivering homes.  And it is possible to see how effective the best authorities can be.  Bringing together housing and planning. Aligning a range of investment streams. Providing challenge, leadership and direction.

Importance of local authority assets

But it is not just about leadership and direction. We also need to make best use of the assets at our disposal

The effective use of local authorities land assets is critical to the delivery of our programme. On a smaller scale, there are also many great infill opportunities, chances to repair tears in the urban fabric, which only a local authority can unlock.

Planning to deliver

And we need local authorities to embrace their planning powers as a key lever in the delivery of new and affordable homes within sustainable communities

Section 106 developments make up a significant and critical component of our programme. Indeed, in the south and south-east of England, over 40% of new affordable homes funded by us will be delivered through planning gain.

The importance of planning doesn’t stop at Section 106.  It doesn’t matter how much money we and Government put into new development if the sites don’t come on stream.
But when we get it right, there are real and tangible results; with faster delivery of developments and planning gains turned into more affordable homes for people that need them most.

We are close now to announcing the outcome of our 2006-08 National Affordable Housing Programme, the largest ever. Local authority input has been key to our decision making.

The Corporation will always seek to choose developing associations in full consultation with our local authority partners. We appreciate you have crucial knowledge on associations’ performance in delivering good management standards, tackling homelessness and contributing to wider community services.

And good examples of joint working are already emerging - where they exist, joint preferred lists, reflecting local priorities and Housing Corporation assessments, have worked well for both the Corporation and local authorities. 

It is a partnership approach that works and we want to develop.

Finally, we need, together, to respond to the challenges set out by David Miliband today.

In his first speech as Minister at ODPM David Miliband talked about renewing civic pride.  He set out a vision for neighbourhoods and communities built around successful engagement of voluntary and community organisations.  And he highlighted how the best of local government has prospered through the deepening of such links.  Last month he talked to the New Local Government Network about empowering citizens, about devolving decision making, about the principle of subsidiarity, about putting decisions back in the hands of neighbourhoods and communities. Today he restated that challenge.

We need to find new ways of making this real in the housing sector.  Finding ways of ensuring homes and estates are seen not just in isolation but as part of neighbourhoods, as part of communities.  Of facilitating engagement and involvement; of providing tenant and communities with the ability to influence service provision and make it more accountable. 

Housing associations represent a large and untapped resource capable of growing and delivering community level services. From the delivery of childcare and employment training to tackling Respect. Yesterday I was in Crewe looking at impressive childcare projects being supported by Wulvern Housing, the local transfer landlord, and how it is helping to change the lives of parents in one community.  And at a community initiative aimed at helping residents themselves address issues of neighbourhood management and Respect.

Of course, this is most effective where housing providers are working hand in hand with local authorities, in the context of local and community strategies and plans. For example in Merseyside, the partnership between CDS Plus and Liverpool Council.  And the work of Willow Park in Manchester.

We intend to continue working hard to promote this sort of effective cooperation between housing associations and local authorities.  And to take action where we think there is scope to make that partnership more effective.

Rationalising stock management

Last autumn we launched two pilot commissions  last autumn – one in South Hampshire and one in Manchester – to look at the case for stock rationalisation and the tools needed to address the issue.  The intention is that the commissions should help provide a template for ensuring a more effective “fit” between local and neighbourhood priorities and the capacity of housing associations to contribute to their delivery.

In doing so, we acknowledge and are grateful that we will be building on work pioneered by a number of local authorities, including Liverpool and Manchester councils.  And we are delighted that both Manchester Council and local authorities in South Hampshire are playing a full role in the work of the commissions.

Partnership and protocols

All of this is positive. But we want to take partnership a step further.

In December, our Chief Executive Jon Rouse proposed a protocol between Local Government and the Housing Corporation around our approach to local housing investment. The LGA has welcomed the initiative and we are now working closely together to draft a national protocol which will be published this summer.

Back in December, Jon talked about the Protocol setting out a clear basis against which decisions on investment are made, taking into account local knowledge and local strategies.  What we were looking for in return were assurances about local authorities genuinely gearing up their performance when it came to planning and delivery of sites.

In fact, the scope of the Protocol looks likely to be much greater.  It will reflect the issues that local authorities and housing associations have told us that it is important we get right: homelessness; allocations policies; housing benefit; choice-based letting; planning; partnerships; section 106 policies; land assets; long-term planning;  provision of new Supported Housing; the new Respect agenda; stock transfer and stock rationalisation; and provision of community-based services. 

It’s a big list, and one that shows just how important the working relationship really is.

In parallel with this work the Corporation is also piloting a series of local protocols, based on the emerging national protocol, in each Government Office region. We have already entered into discussions with local authorities in every region to take this forward. 

We want to make sure that any protocol has real substance and makes a difference to how we work together and we will be looking to roll them out once our pilots are in place.  If you are interested in establishing a protocol in your area, we have a stand here and my colleagues would welcome the opportunity to talk to you.

We are also looking at how we, in the Housing Corporation, need to change to make this a reality.  Each member of our field investment teams and each member of our field regulation teams will be given  responsibility for managing relationships with a portfolio of local authorities.  And we will provide training for all these officers on how to structure that engagement.  I’d like to extend an invitation to local authorities to help us and the LGA with this training.

We are also working up a policy for involving local authorities in Housing Association performance assessment, which we hope to publish in the autumn.  We already do this informally through our engagement with local authority officers but we now want to look to ways of putting this on a more even and transparent footing – of giving local authorities a more direct voice as a key stakeholder in our regulatory engagement with housing associations.

Conclusion 

The Local Authority Strategic housing role is crucial in getting it right in all of these areas.

It is why working together is so important.  The Corporation is transforming into a broader focused housing delivery agency for government. Local government is re-establishing itself as leader in its locality. Looking into the future we see local government being as much a partner for us as the Housing Association sector.  We welcome that proposition – and I hope you do too.

Thank you.