 | |
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 1 January 2018 (2018-01-01) |
| Preceding agencies |
|
| Type | Non-ministerial government department |
| Jurisdiction | England |
| Headquarters | Birchwood,Warrington, England (registered office)[1] 53°24′56″N2°32′07″W / 53.4156°N 2.5352°W /53.4156; -2.5352 |
| Agency executives | |
| Parent department | Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government |
| Website | gov |
Homes England is thenon-departmental public body that funds newaffordable housing in England. It was founded on 1 January 2018 to replace theHomes and Communities Agency (HCA).HCA in turn was established by theHousing and Regeneration Act 2008 as one of the successor bodies to theHousing Corporation, and became operational on 1 December 2008.[4]
On 17 January 2007,Ruth Kelly announced proposals to bring together the investment functions of the Housing Corporation,English Partnerships and parts of theDepartment for Communities and Local Government to form a new unified housing and regeneration agency. It would also incorporate the functions of theAcademy for Sustainable Communities and the government's advisory team for large applications.
In the following months, Martin Cave, Director of the Centre for Management under Regulation atUniversity of Warwick, led the most comprehensive review of English housing regulation for 30 years. Reporting in June, the Cave Review recommended that a newregulator be set up, separating the regulation and investment responsibilities of the Housing Corporation.[5]
On 15 October 2007,Yvette Cooper announced that the Government accepted the recommendation of the Cave Review to transfer the Corporation's regulatory powers to an independent body, subsequently named as theTenant Services Authority (TSA).[6] The new investment body was initially announced as "Communities England", and later renamed as the Homes and Communities Agency.
The chief executive for the body was announced asBob Kerslake in December 2007. Kerslake had led the regeneration ofSheffield as chief executive of the City Council since 1997.[7]
On 17 October 2008, the Housing MinisterIain Wright announced the Board members of the HCA including Robert Napier (chair),Kate Barker,Candy Atherton, and Shaukat Moledina (previously vice-chair of the Housing Corporation).[8]
Kerslake was appointed as apermanent secretary at the agency's parentDepartment for Communities and Local Government in September 2010. The HCA announced that it would appoint an interim chief executive from existing staff.[9]
Housing ministerGrant Shapps announced early on that the TSA would be abolished as part of the cull ofquangos by thecoalition government after the 2010 general election. In June 2010, he said that the HCA would be retained but become "smaller, more strategic - with the HCA's functions being delivered under local leadership."[10]
In September 2010, the HCA was also included on a list of organisations being considered for closure.[11] However, Shapps announced in October that the TSA would be merged into the HCA.[12] In November, he confirmed that the HCA would be retained, but reformed to cut running costs.[13]
The HCA's Kickstart programme provided grants todevelopers in order to rescue stalled projects during theGreat Recession, helping to maintain employment and output of new homes.[14] One notable Kickstart projects was a £45.6 million investment inBerkeley Homes to provide 555 new homes for rent on the open market, located in London, the south east and south west.[15] However, after a campaign for disclosure byBuilding Design magazine, the agency revealed that many Kickstart projects failed to meetCABE's standards of good design.[16]
The HCA acted as the government's Social Housing Regulator. It provided regular reports on each registered social housing agency in England.[17] In March 2014, it made its first ruling that a housing association had breached its "serious detriment" threshold for harm to consumers for its home repairs againstCircle 33, due to "chronic and long standing difficulties in the delivery of the repairs service".[18]
In Scotland this function is performed by theScottish Housing Regulator. In Wales, the function is carried out by the Welsh government.[19]
The Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) was replaced by a new national housing agency, Homes England, in January 2018, with a remit to acquire land and support brownfield development to help boost housing supply.[20] In October 2018, under chairman SirEdward Lister and CEO Nick Walkley, it published its first five-year strategy to deliver more homes in areas of greatest need, restating the government's ambition to deliver 300,000 new homes a year on average.[21] It planned to "significantly increase" housing delivery across South East England and to provide "additional professional skills capacity" for councils.[22]
In August 2019, Lister stepped down as chair of Homes England to focus on a newly created role as chief strategic adviser to Prime MinisterBoris Johnson.[23] He was succeeded as chairman by Peter Freeman in October 2020, and, after a three-year stint, was confirmed as chair for a further two years in October 2023.[2] Walkley stepped down as CEO in January 2021,[24] and was succeeded by Peter Denton in August 2021.[25]
In March 2021, Homes England began a six-year, 1,800 home Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) Research Commission, aiming to improve construction productivity and encourage the uptake of MMC in housing delivery.[26] In its second five-year strategy, published in May 2023, it committed to further support for MMC initiatives.[27]
In November 2019, Homes England had invested £30M into theIlke Homes modular homes business;[28] it invested a further £30M in September 2021.[29] Despite a further fund-raising round, raising £100M in December 2022,[30][31] Ilke Homes went intoadministration on 30 June 2023,[32][33] with most of the company's 1,150 staff made redundant,[34] and creditors owed £320M,[35] including £68M owed to Homes England.[36] Eventually, Homes England would get back just £5M of its 2019 loan to company.[37]L&G Modular Homes halted production in May 2023, blaming planning delays and theCOVID-19 pandemic for its failure,[38][39] with the enterprise incurring total losses over seven years of £295M.[40] In November 2023, Homes England loaned £15M to TopHat, another loss-making MMC housebuilder, to fund construction of a factory inCorby;[41] in March 2024, the factory's opening was postponed.[42]
In January 2024, following the collapse of Ilke Homes and several other MMC companies (including L&G Modular Homes andHouse by Urban Splash) during 2022 and 2023, theHouse of Lords Built Environment Committee highlighted that the UK Government needed to be more coherent in addressing barriers affecting adoption of MMC: "If the Government wants the sector to be a success, it needs to take a step back, acquire a better understanding of how it works and the help that it needs, set achievable goals and develop a coherent strategy."[43] Millions of pounds of public money had been invested, but "Homes England has not given any clear metrics as to how success is to be measured and over what timescale".[44][45] In late March 2024, housing ministerLee Rowley told the Lords Committee that the government would be reviewing its MMC policies in light of the crisis in the volumetric house-building sector. He promised "a full update in late spring once we have undertaken further detailed work with the sector".[46]
In 2020, the pilot sale ofmicroplots was compared todriveway ransoms when Homes England wrote to householders in Birmingham warning that Homes England owned microplots between the household and the public road. Homes England said it had written to 90 householders; however a freedom of information request found over 500 microplots for sale in the Redditch and Bromsgrove boroughs. Homes England said that if householders did not purchase microplots they could be sold to third parties. A third party sale was expected by homeowners to result in the microplot being used as aransom strip.[47]
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
