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Housing Strategy > The regional context
The regional context
The Regional Housing Board and this first Regional Housing Strategy
for the North West represent a new regional dimension to housing
strategy, accompanied by the combination of Approved Development
Programme and Housing Investment Programme resources into a new
single pot for housing.
The Regional Housing Board want to ensure that the North West makes
the most of this opportunity to take a new approach to housing investment.
So, while we will meet the requirement to have a strategy in place
for the next two years, we also want to look at the bigger questions
about our long term future as a region. This should move away from
directing public sector activity toward a more comprehensive framework
for activity, recognising and involving the key private sector drivers
within the housing market.
In a series of Regional Housing Statements over the last few years,
the North West has developed a shared understanding of the key issues
it faces. The last of these , developed by a partnership led by
the North West Housing Forum, the Regional Assembly, Government
Office and Housing Corporation, has been a strong foundation for
the development of this Strategy. But a Regional Housing Strategy
must also be fully linked to the wider regional strategic context
- the spatial framework in Regional Planning Guidance and the principles
in the Regional Economic Strategy and Action for Sustainability.
In setting priorities, we have begun by looking at the priorities
and objectives already set out in the Regional Economic Strategy
and Regional Planning Guidance , reflecting both the need to ground
the Board's priorities in the correct economic and spatial context,
and to contribute to the task of 'aligning' the North West's key
regional strategies.
Brief summaries of the key regional documents are included in Annex
B. In considering the development of a Regional Housing Strategy
for the region, a number of key themes can be identified in the
other regional strategies. Sustainable development is at the heart
of all of the strategies, balancing economic growth, social inclusion
and environmental protection and enhancement. The concept of urban
renaissance also figures prominently. Both the Regional Economic
Strategy (RES) and Regional Planning Guidance (RPG) view this as
vital to the prospects for future economic development, while RPG
also sees it as important in restricting the need for further greenfield
development beyond the region's already extensive existing urban
areas.
The spatial framework provided by Regional Planning Guidance expresses
this desire to focus development on regeneration opportunities within
the North West Metropolitan Area and in other key towns and cities
(see Figure 1). Discouraging urban sprawl in areas currently under
severe development pressure, such as North Cheshire, is seen as
enhancing both economic competitiveness and housing markets in the
conurbation cores and other regeneration areas, reflecting the Regional
Economic Strategy's commitment to sustainable development and linking
opportunity and need.
Figure 1: North West Regional Planning Guidance Key Diagram
Among the challenges identified in the Economic Strategy as impacting
indirectly on the economy are the problems of poor health, housing
and deprivation. Their impact on quality of life is cited as a disincentive
to investment - the availability of decent places to live and work
being necessary components of a healthy regional economy. In the
rural context, both Economic Strategy and Planning Guidance refer
specifically to the importance of the availability of affordable
housing in achieving the 'rural renaissance' and 'thriving and diverse
rural economy' aspired to.
Some questions do need to be thought through by regional bodies
(including the Regional Housing Board), and local and sub-regional
partners as we attempt to align the regional strategies and the
activity flowing from them more effectively. For example, how do
we balance the need for rural renaissance and economic development
(including provision of new affordable housing) with Regional Planning
Guidance that development should be respectful of the landscape
character of the countryside in which it is located? More fundamentally,
in regenerating the region, how do we assess the relative priorities
for areas of greatest need and areas of opportunity? Do we know
where fundamental restructuring rather than renewal and regeneration
is necessary? Do we have a clear long term vision of a sustainable
future for those areas? Who should be making those decisions? This
strategy begins to tackle these questions, and we will continue
to work on them.
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