Introduction : Life in NW6 then and now

When I moved to London at the age of 21, I spent two years living and working as a youth worker on a council estate in Kilburn. There was a great sense of community on that estate but also poor living conditions and embedded poverty. Other than basic housing and estate management services, and even they were patchy, the statutory agencies were almost wholly absent.

Last year I revisited the estate with the then Chief Secretary, Paul Boateng. I saw a physical and social landscape about to undergo fundamental transformation. Local authority, housing associations and private developers will be working in partnership to turn a decaying isolated mono-tenure estate into a mixed tenure, mixed use environment with proper access to decent local amenities.

From the outside looking in, it was very difficult to tell who was doing what. It was probably difficult for the residents to fully understand either. But what was clear was that the blurring of the institutional edges was not really important. What was important was the determination and quality underlying the effort of collective delivery.

The question is how do we make this type of partnership working the norm. How do we combine a strong local authority strategic housing role with the right delivery team, the right funding package, the right mix in the right place at the right time.

That is what I want to talk to you about this morning.

How the Housing Act 2004 changed our world

In August, as the Housing Corporation was launching its 2006-08 National Affordable Housing Programme, I wrote to all local authority directors of housing highlighting the importance the Corporation attaches to its relationship with local government, and how critical this was to the successful delivery of our investment programme.

Now, traditionally, Chief Executives of the Housing Corporation don't tend to write letters to local authority directors of housing. Housing association chief executives - yes. But not often local authorities. That is probably a mistake. But if it is, it is one that is borne out of the divisions that 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.

So why did I write? First of all, because - despite the artificial barriers between sectors - the Housing Corporation has always maintained a strong relationship with local authorities - nationally, regionally and as delivery partners at a local level. We cannot deliver without your help; without your active participation and your partnership. Secondly - and as importantly - I wrote because the traditional housing landscape is changing, and local authorities are at the centre of the change.

For the Housing Corporation the world changed quickly, significantly and probably irrevocably with the 2004 Housing Act. As a direct consequence of that legislation, next year will be the first the Housing Corporation has funded local authority and private sector development of affordable housing alongside development by housing associations. In one stroke breaking down old barriers and certainties. As many of you will be aware, today is the deadline for those new and historic proposals to come in as we look to allocate up to £3.9 billion of public money.