The UK Experience by Malcolm Morley *
Central Government has developed a Sustainable Communities strategy to raise the quality of life in communities. An investment program has been developed which marks a step change in policy and investment for delivering sustainable communities. Its main elements include the following.
Housing
The main elements under housing include £22 billion to improve housing and communities including over £5 billion to regenerate deprived areas; a new regional approach to housing policy and £350 million to speed up the planning process.
In addition there will be £5 billion for more affordable homes, covering the following.
- At least £1 billion for KeyWorker housing.
- Support for people who wish to move into home ownership.
- Action on empty properties
- A new focus on helping people into home ownership.
- £446 million for Thames Gateway with new development agencies.
- £164 million for three other growth areas.
- £2.8 billion to bring Council homes up to a decent standard
- £500 million to tackle low demand and abandonment
- £260 million to tackle homelessness.
- Action to tackle bad landlords.
Countryside and local environments
This includes a guarantee to protect green belt; £201 million to improve local environment – parks and public spaces; and ver 5,000 affordable homes in villages. The above represents large scale investment. It will make a significant contribution to protecting and creating sustainable communities. It will also create a major challenge for Councils.
This challenge is not one of dealing with the investment that will be made but one of influencing where and how much of the investment is made. Whereas previously Councils played a central role in influencing the investment in their local communities, their role has been changed.
Nine new Regional Housing Boards have been established in England. These Boards do not have direct Council representation on them and have responsibility for the development for Regional Housing Strategies that will guide the investment of resources. Allocations under this strategy will be made directly to Housing Associations and others providing affordable housing, circumventing Councils. The picture is similar for economic regeneration.
As Councils are not now generally the providers of affordable housing, most have sold their housing stock to Housing Associations in line with Government policy. Their role in housing is largely based upon influencing Government investment and providing planning consents. Part of the latter involves negotiating the proportion of developments to be provided as affordable housing.
Councils are now caught in the position of having a reduced influence on Government investment decisions for the provision of affordable housing in their areas. They also have a reduced ability to fund affordable housing negotiated through the planning process.
The approach to protecting and creating sustainable communities has to involve a holistic approach, cutting across different Government departments and the tiers of Government to ensure consistency of investment. It needs to be guided by a recognition of national/regional priorities and locally determined needs and investment requirements. It also needs community engagement and input from local communities. Councils have a fundamental role to play as part of a partnership approach. It is hard to see how community planning and sustainable communities will be achieved solely through nationally/regionally determined investment priorities.
Councils in England have the challenge of seeking to ensure that the core of sustainable communities, local community spirit and engagement, are recognised.
* Malcolm Morley is a Strategic Director of South Oxfordshire District Council. This is one of a series of articles he is writing covering trends in the United Kingdom. He may be contacted by email at Malcolm.Morley @southoxon.gov.uk
The views expressed in this article are not necessarily those of his employer.
