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AFFORDABLE HOUSING – POLICY INTO PRACTICE – your feedback required (scroll down..)

Affordable Housing is a key issue for market towns.  AMT recently commissioned some work to explore the issues surrounding the provision of affordable homes in more detail, to form the basis of our Affordable Housing Policy into Practice Paper and feed into our Position Statement and Campaign Plan for this campaign area.

The information on affordable housing has been developed to give practitioners working within market towns an understanding of the current policy guidance as regards enabling and delivering affordable housing within market towns.  It details current government policy thinking at a national level and how this thinking has been disseminated into regional and local policy to enable affordable housing within market towns.

The provision of affordable housing is important within any community.  It provides high quality housing for people who are unable to access private rented accommodation or afford to buy a home of their own.  Development can make important contributions to communities by: meeting the needs of local people; sustaining local amenities, services and the economy; and, supporting the social mix and networks within communities.

Affordable housing or the lack of it is a key issue in many market towns.  Higher than average house prices and lower than average wages has resulted in households on lower and median incomes being unable to remain in market towns and the surrounding rural hinterlands.  This is often where they were born and have family roots, some who have left the area cannot afford to return to take up work or support relatives.  This situation can create challenges for individual families, the local economy and the wider sustainability of the community.

The founding principle of much government policy is the promotion of ‘sustainable’ development, with ‘sustainable’ communities an integral part of that concept. Over the last five years considerable attention has been given to the extent to which public policy has inhibited the achievement of this objective in a rural context (specifically for communities under 3,000 population or with a population 3,000 to 10,000). As a result current government policy is centered on a new ‘Place Shaping Agenda’ of which delivering housing, market and affordable, is an integral part.

The contents can be found further down this page – please have a look through as the guidance should help you understand what affordable housing is and how you can develop it in your town.

Please let us have your feedback:  Email us at: Alison.Eardley@towns.org.uk

We would welcome your experiences in developing affordable housing within your market towns, in particular your experience of:

• Working with housing associations and private developers;
• Source of funding in addition to Homes and Communities agency grant and housing association finance that you have been able to access to develop affordable housing;
• Arrangements for community participation in shaping the planned development;
• Examples of specialist accommodation provided within market towns that have serviced the town itself and the rural hinterland.

Also, in preparing this Policy into Practice paper there are a number of recommendations relevant to organisations working to improve affordable housing supply in market towns.  These include national government and their regional partners, local authorities and registered social landlords and individual residents and community groups concerned about the future growth of their community.

RECOMMENDATION 1 – Assumed level of knowledge

Within the majority of guidance and advice in relation to affordable housing and the planning system, there is an assumed level of knowledge which is above the level of knowledge that perhaps practitioners working on the ground have in this policy area.  There has been significant change in government’s approach to enabling housing and planning policy following most notable the Barker Review and Taylor Review.

We would ask that future guidance is created in an approach with does not discourage community members from wishing to find out more.

RECOMMENDATION 2 -  Master planning

The Taylor review called for a different approach to developing affordable housing within rural communities and we would support and encourage this approach.  Master planning is a process to map a strategic vision and plan for development that takes into account not just the buildings, spaces and street plans but also the social and environmental contexts of the community to provide a plan for achieving a fully shaped place.

In preparing their Sustainable Community Strategies we would ask that local and regional authorities adopt this approach for all communities where housing supply is to be targeted.

RECOMMENDATION 3 – Partnership working

Effective partnerships are not necessarily those with the responsibility to enable affordable housing (local authorities, RSLs, HCA, Regional Assembly and private developers) and need to include all sections of the community from business interests to organised community groups.

We would ask for all projects to increase or regenerated housing supply that a stakeholder analysis is undertaken that incorporates all interested parties.  This in turn should inform community participation practices as regards housing development and regeneration.

RECOMMENDATION 4 – Effective community participation

The Taylor review noted ‘Enquiry by Design’, a process developed by the Princes Trust to help communities understand and shape what new and existing communities want from development.  The event would be undertaken during the course of the design process bringing together relevant information about the site and sets out to harmonise this with the aims and aspirations of the community.

We would ask ‘Enquiry by Design’ becomes standard practice and seeks to involve all interested stakeholders.

RECOMMENDATION 5 – Willingness to accept change

A sustainable community is often referred to as one which is socially, economically and environmentally vibrant.  In achieving a sustainable community the concept of change has to be accepted.  If guidance and advice was more targeted at practitioners and community residents living or working within market towns, it would help to alleviate the barriers caused by the concept of ‘what is the hidden agenda’.

We would ask town councils and market town residents to become involved in the decisions affecting their community, not simply when a planning application goes in, but in shaping their areas when local authorities seek to involve residents.

Do you agree with the recommendations?  Please email us if you have any feedback, at: Alison.Eardley@towns.org.uk

Policy into Practice Paper – CONTENTS

Part I: National Government Policy -  Introduction to national government and housing and planning legislation policy

Part II: Regional Policy Context -  The role of regional agencies in disseminating national government housing and planning guidance to a local level.  There are three elements of regional level strategy that are particularly important as a context for housing and planning policy, Regional Spatial Strategy, Regional Economic Strategy and Regional Housing Strategy.  However, change is happening and from 2010 these strategies will be integrated into a single Integrated Regional Strategy.

Part III: What is affordable housing? – Having set the national and regional policy context as regards planning and housing policy, the next section is  This covers the definition of affordable housing, the main providers, who is eligible and how it is allocated.  This includes the new push from government for local authorities to adopt a Choice Based Lettings approach to all tenures of affordable housing (social rented and intermediate).

Part IV: The New Place Shaping Agenda – Local Authorities have a key role to play as regards government’s new place shaping agenda.  At a local level their role is to prepare a strategic vision for their area with four key mechanisms, Local Strategic Partnership, Sustainable Communities Strategy, Local Area Agreement and Local Development Framework.

Part V: Enabling affordable housing at the local level – Local authorities have a key role of facilitating the delivery of affordable housing.  This chapter details policy in place to enable them to deliver the right amount of affordable housing, in the right place with required community consultation.

Part VI: Challenges to developing affordable housing in market towns – Over the past five years there have been three significant government inquiries into the current planning system, the rural economy and delivery of affordable housing in rural communities, the Barker Review of Housing Supply 2004, The Affordable Rural Housing Commission 2006 and the Taylor Review of the Rural Economy and Affordable Housing 2007.   This chapter details the main findings and recommendations in each of these inquiries and then, using the case studies and evidence from the inquiries, details barriers to developing affordable housing in market towns and opportunities to overcome these barriers.

Part VII: the Credit Crunch details the effect the current economic downturn is having on the affordable housing sector.  In many urban and rural areas, development work on schemes that were considered viable twelve months ago has stopped.  There is anecdotal evidence to suggest that developers are pulling out of schemes and off-loading land assets in an attempt to manage risk.

Part VIII: Party Politics and Affordable Housing attempts to summarise the Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat policy commitments to providing housing, both market and affordable. This section has been taken from relevant pages on each Party’s website and the content is information in the public domain.

Part IX: Next Steps details Action for Market Towns recommendations to improve supply of affordable housing within market towns and future research required.  With a general election looming and England hopefully emerging from a recession, we are in a period of change.  We would welcome your experiences in developing affordable housing within your market towns; working with housing associations and private developers, sourcing  funding in addition to Homes and Communities agency grant and housing association finance that you have been able to access to develop affordable housing, arrangements for community participation in shaping the planned development, and examples of specialist accommodation provided within market towns that have serviced the town itself and the rural hinterland.

Part X Useful Websites lists the websites from which the majority of information has been gathered for this ‘Policy into Practice paper’.

Case Studies – Four case studies have been prepared to illustrate Affordable Housing in action at the town level:

The first case study, Whitehill Borden, East Hampshire which at one time was considered as a possible overspill area for London and is a Ministry of Defence training area saw large scale development in the 1970s and 1980s.  The town was recently awarded eco-town status.

The second case study, Coalville Housing Estate, Longton, North Staffordshire, is an ex-mining market town that became part of the City of Stoke on Trent.  The city is one of 9 housing market renewal pathfinder areas and the whole town is undergoing extensive regeneration.

The third case study Penrith, Eden District Council, is a large market town in Eden valley where the local authority successfully developed the town centre with a mixed tenure development.  They are also supporting young people to remain in the area with a Foyer development.

The fourth case study, Wells next the sea, North Norfolk District Council is a high demand housing market fuelled by tourism and the desire for second home ownership.  The sub regional partnership, involving an active community partnership, has been working to improve its evidence base to support the case for increased affordable housing provision and influence district council policy.

The fifth case study is Hitchin, a market town in North Hertfordshire; the town has seen  high demand for housing outstripping supply with the recession impacting on a partnership between the local authority, housing association and private developer to develop a site in the town centre with a mix of affordable and market housing.

Go to Part I: National Policy Context