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Home > Scoping Paper > Defining Regional Needs and
Priorities
Defining Regional Needs and Priorities
This will be the heart of the strategy, setting out the key needs
and thus the priorities for the region as a whole. The strategy
should be about more than the allocation of single housing pot resources
if it is have the impact on other strategies we would like. So this
section will seek to identify priorities for action, but not just
those funded through this strategy, indeed not just those requiring
capital investment. It should also identify priorities for influencing
or educating partners, for example on urban design, which may not
involve extra expenditure, but will help deliver the vision. Details
of the allocation of the single housing pot will then be based upon
an analysis of both the regional priorities set out in the strategy
and the availability of other sources of funds and mechanisms to
help tackle those priorities.
The Regional Housing Statement detailed a number of aims and strategic
objectives for the region, but did not seek to place those in any
order of importance. The Communities Plan (p.60) requires that we
now take that step forward, to form the basis for the Board's advice
to Ministers on strategic housing investment priorities for the
North West. 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.
Housing and community cohesion
People's housing choices may contribute to the concentration
of people from ethnic background in particular localities. This
is not in itself a problem, and there are many examples of successful
communities across the UK with high concentrations of residents
from one ethnic background. There is clear evidence, however, that
concentrations of people from one ethnic background in certain areas,
and their separation from other groups living in adjacent areas,
has contributed significantly to inter-community tensions and conflict.
In some parts of the region, Asian communities are concentrated
in poor quality private housing and impoverished members of the
white community on social housing estates. In others, Bangladeshi
households are less likely to be owner occupiers than Indian or
Pakistani households. Lack of interaction, as a result of segregation,
may lead to fear and mistrust, multiplied as segregated housing
leads to segregated schooling and leisure activities. Raising standards
and ensuring equality of opportunity in terms of quality of housing,
education and skills, health, and access to employment can then
become ever more difficult to achieve. Resentment can build as area-based
regeneration programmes are perceived to have unfairly favoured
other groups.
The pattern of economic and social disadvantage facing the region's
black and minority ethnic communities means that many 'mainstream'
regeneration strategies and programmes aim to tackle these problems
as part of broad-based packages of interventions. Housing action
must play a part within these programmes, and should also be included
as part of broader sub-regional consideration of the impact of intervention
and investment in housing markets. Therefore, in tackling the
priorities set out in this document, 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.
Housing and neighbourhood renewal
Similarly, action based on the Regional Housing Strategy's priorities
should fit into a context of neighbourhood renewal action on a much
broader basis. This will vary according to local circumstances,
but might include improving education, health and other public services,
enhancing employment and economic opportunities, introducing proactive
neighbourhood management, tackling anti-social behaviour, improving
environmental quality and design, and ensuring good public transport
services.
The Government's vision, set out in the National Strategy for Neighbourhood
Renewal , is that within 10 to 20 years, no-one should be seriously
disadvantaged by where they live. The vision is reflected in two
long-term goals:
- In all the poorest neighbourhoods, to have common goals of lower
worklessness and crime, and better health, skills, housing and
physical environment.
- To narrow the gap on these measures between the most deprived
neighbourhoods and the rest of the country.
Accordingly, in addressing the priorities set out in this document,
the Board expect their investment to contribute to the achievement
of the vision and goals of the National Strategy for Neighbourhood
Renewal.
Priorities for the North West
With those cross-cutting themes in mind, the following sections
are the priorities for the North West the Board might recommend
to Ministers. They are set out in descending order of priority
for the use of single housing pot funds. We identify areas where
we feel more work will need to be done by the Board and partners
to achieve better understanding of the challenges facing the region
and of the potential solutions to those challenges. Questions are
included to spark responses, but the Board is most interested in
your views on the key priorities we suggest for the North West.
If you disagree, what evidence can you give to back up your arguments
?
- 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 ?
Dealing with dysfunctional housing markets
A huge amount of research and analysis has been undertaken in
the North West and in other Northern regions over the last few years,
looking at the changing nature of housing markets in many parts
of the urban North. The researchers behind much of this work, Birmingham
University's Centre for Urban and Regional Studies (CURS), sparked
interest in Government and elsewhere with the production of their
report on the North West's M62 Corridor , and a study extending
this to the rest of the region for the North West Housing Forum
is now nearing completion. Both studies have been funded and informed
by local authorities, RSLs and other regional partners.
CURS' new work is focusing not only on the problems and causes
of low demand and low property values, but also on the other side
of the coin - areas where high demand and constricted supply produce
housing markets dysfunctional in their ability to provide enough
affordable housing for local people. Both types of dysfunctional
markets have implications for social inclusion, sustainable economic
development and quality of life for people living in affected areas.
Emerging findings from the new CURS work will be used to inform
the development of this part of the regional housing strategy, but
on the basis of what we already know, we can begin to sketch out
the nature of a regional response to these issues. As a general
principle for the strategy as a whole, we will seek to base our
analysis and action on complete housing market areas at every opportunity,
rather than on traditional administrative boundaries.
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