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Home > Scoping Paper > Summary
Summary
The Communities Plan has altered the whole basis of the housing
system nationally and in the regions. Regional Housing Boards are
now tasked with advising Ministers on regional priorities, directing
housing investment funding, and bringing together housing, economic
and spatial strategies. The implications are potentially far-reaching,
enabling regions to give Ministers a clear view about where investment
needs to be directed for maximum impact, and placing obligations
on regional bodies to get their own collective heads together more
effectively.
This paper is intended to set out some of the key issues and questions
facing the North West, helping the North West Regional Housing Board
to develop the first Regional Housing Strategy for the region. It
sets out the Board's initial views about regional priorities, and
invites you to respond. Questions are included to spark responses,
but the Board is most interested in your views and evidence for
or against the key priorities we suggest for the North West.
Key questions
- Are the priorities right for the North West ?
- How would you rank them ?
- How do we balance the thematic and spatial approaches to setting
priorities ?
- Should we include priorities unlikely to be funded from the
single housing pot, such as work on construction skills issues,
but nonetheless central to achieving the strategy's aims ?
Vision
Our vision is a region working together to ensure that every part
of the North West offers everyone
a choice of good quality housing in successful, secure and
sustainable neighbourhoods.
Q Is this vision still appropriate for
the North West ? Is it ambitious enough ?
The North West Regional Housing Board has interpreted this overarching
vision into the following more specific priorities for action.
Regional Priorities
These are the Board's suggested priorities for the investment of
the single housing pot, in descending order of priority. In tackling
these priorities, the Board will seek to build integrated communities
across social, racial and faith divides, by meeting the housing
needs and aspirations of all different parts of the community.
Similarly, the Board expect their investment to contribute to
the achievement of the vision and goals of the National Strategy
for Neighbourhood Renewal.
Regional Priority 1: Urban renaissance and dealing with changing
demand
Priority 1.1
Maximising the positive impact of the market renewal Pathfinders
in their local housing markets.
Priority 1.2
Developing a targeted programme of strategic investment in the
prevention of market failure in other areas at risk from low demand,
applying and adapting lessons from the Pathfinders and elsewhere
for use in other areas suffering from low demand. These activities
should form part of comprehensive neighbourhood renewal strategies,
specifically in:
1.2.1 the remainder of the North West Metropolitan Area ;
1.2.2 the North West's coastal towns; and
1.2.3 other Neighbourhood Renewal Fund areas.
Q Are these specific and targeted enough
? (i.e. are we still 'spreading the jam too thinly' ?)
Q Conversely, are there other parts of
the region which you think need to be included ?
Q Are there integrated local and sub-regional
strategies in place to deliver the transformational change required
in some parts of the urban North West ?
Regional Priority 2: Areas of unsustainably high housing demand
Priority 2.1
Tackling the shortages of affordable housing in areas of the
North West where demand is unsustainably high, where this impacts
adversely on social inclusion and the sustainable growth of local,
sub-regional and regional economies. Action will focus specifically
on:
2.1.1 continuing to deliver the Housing Corporation's special
investment programme for rural settlements below 3,000 in population;
and
2.1.2 parts of the region where demand is high and there is a demonstrable
need for additional affordable housing.
Q Where are the hotspots ? How should we
target our activity ?
Q Should we pick rural issues out as a
separate strategic priority, or should they be seen as part of the
mainstream housing market issue facing the North West ?
Q How should we link investment strategies
for high demand urban areas with strategies for nearby areas suffering
from low demand, or at risk from it ?
Regional Priority 3: Meeting the region's needs for specialist
and supported housing
Priority 3.1
Providing appropriate capital funding for specialist housing
provision to meet clearly identified needs, in line with local strategic
priorities.
Q What is the role of a regional housing
strategy in relation to supported and specialist housing provision
?
Q Should investment in these areas simply
be determined by comparing current provision with patterns of need,
or should it link to regeneration strategies ?
Regional Priority 4: Delivering decent homes and thriving neighbourhoods
Priority 4.1
As part of broadly based regeneration strategies, improving
the condition of housing stock with a sustainable future, particularly
in areas of concentrated unfitness and disrepair.
Q Should single housing pot resources be
allocated to help meet decent homes targets when other sources of
funding to achieve this are available to a local authority ?
Q What approach should the Board take to
stock condition issues in the private and registered social landlord
sectors ?
Q Is this priority actually only a sub-section
of earlier priorities, particularly as much of the worst condition
housing lies within Pathfinder areas ?
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