Homes England

Last updated

Homes England
Homes England logo.svg
Agency overview
FormedJanuary 1, 2018 (2018-01-01)
Preceding agencies
Type Non-ministerial government department
JurisdictionEngland
Headquarters Birchwood, Warrington, England (registered office) [1]
53°24′56″N2°32′07″W / 53.415581439010936°N 2.535223960876465°W / 53.415581439010936; -2.535223960876465
Agency executives
  • Peter Freeman, Chairman [2]
  • Peter Denton, Chief Executive Officer [3]
Parent departmentDepartment for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
Website Homes England – GOV.UK

Homes England is the non-departmental public body that funds new affordable housing in England. It was founded on 1 January 2018 to replace the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA). HCA in turn was established by the Housing and Regeneration Act 2008 as one of the successor bodies to the Housing Corporation, and became operational on 1 December 2008. [4]

Contents

History

On 17 January 2007, Ruth Kelly announced proposals to bring together the investment functions of the Housing Corporation, English Partnerships and parts of the Department for Communities and Local Government to form a new unified housing and regeneration agency. It would also incorporate the functions of the Academy 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 at University of Warwick, led the most comprehensive review of English housing regulation for 30 years. Reporting in June, the Cave Review recommended that a new regulator 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 the Tenant Services Authority (TSA). [6] The new investment body was initially announced as "Communities England", and later renamed as the Homes and Communities Agency.

Homes and Communities Agency (HCA)

The Chief Executive for the body was announced as Bob Kerslake in December 2007. Kerslake had led the regeneration of Sheffield as chief executive of the City Council since 1997. [7]

On 17 October 2008 the Housing Minister Iain 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 a Permanent Secretary at the agency's parent Department for Communities and Local Government in September 2010. The HCA announced that it would appoint an interim Chief Executive from existing staff. [9]

Housing minister Grant Shapps announced early on that the TSA would be abolished as part of the cull of quangos by the coalition 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]

Kickstart initiative

The HCA's Kickstart programme provided grants to developers in order to rescue stalled projects during the 2007-2010 recession, helping to maintain employment and output of new homes. [14] One of the most groundbreaking Kickstart projects was a £45.6 million investment in Berkeley 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 by Building Design magazine, the agency revealed that many Kickstart projects failed to meet CABE's standards of good design. [16]

Social Housing Regulator

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 against Circle 33, due to "chronic and long standing difficulties in the delivery of the repairs service". [18]

In Scotland this function is performed by the Scottish Housing Regulator. In Wales, the function is carried out by the Welsh government. [19]

Homes England

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 Sir Edward 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 Minister Boris 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. [3]

Modern Methods of Construction (MMC)

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. [25] In its second five-year strategy, published in May 2023, it committed to further support for MMC initiatives. [26]

In November 2019, Homes England had invested £30m into the Ilke Homes modular homes business; [27] it invested a further £30m in September 2021. [28] Despite a further fund-raising round, raising £100m in December 2022, [29] [30] Ilke Homes went into administration on 30 June 2023, [31] [32] with most of the company's 1,150 staff made redundant, [33] and creditors owed £320m, [34] including £68m owed to Homes England. [35] In November 2023, Homes England loaned £15m to TopHat, another financially troubled MMC housebuilder. [36]

In January 2024, following the collapse of Ilke Homes and several other MMC companies (including L&G Modular Homes and House by Urban Splash) during 2022 and 2023, the House 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." [37] 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". [38] [39]

Sale of ransom strips

In 2020, the pilot sale of micro plots was compared to driveway 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 micro plots 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 micro plot being used as a ransom strip. [40]

Related Research Articles

The Housing Corporation was the non-departmental public body that funded new affordable housing and regulated housing associations in England. It was established by the Housing Act 1964. On 1 December 2008, its functions were transferred to two new organisations, the Homes and Communities Agency and the Tenant Services Authority. The Corporation was formally dissolved on 1 April 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Modular building</span> Prefabricated building or house that consists of repeated sections

A modular building is a prefabricated building that consists of repeated sections called modules. Modularity involves constructing sections away from the building site, then delivering them to the intended site. Installation of the prefabricated sections is completed on site. Prefabricated sections are sometimes placed using a crane. The modules can be placed side-by-side, end-to-end, or stacked, allowing for a variety of configurations and styles. After placement, the modules are joined together using inter-module connections, also known as inter-connections. The inter-connections tie the individual modules together to form the overall building structure.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prefabricated home</span> Type of prefabricated building

Prefabricated homes, often referred to as prefab homes or simply prefabs, are specialist dwelling types of prefabricated building, which are manufactured off-site in advance, usually in standard sections that can be easily shipped and assembled. Some current prefab home designs include architectural details inspired by postmodernism or futurist architecture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barratt Developments</span> UK Residential property development company

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Vistry Group, formerly Bovis Homes Group, is a British house-building company based in Kings Hill, England. Bovis Homes completed a deal to acquire Galliford Try's housing arm in January 2020, renaming the combined business Vistry. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.

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Costain Group plc is a British construction and engineering company headquartered in Maidenhead, England. Founded in 1865, its history includes extensive housebuilding and mining activities, but it later focused on civil engineering and commercial construction projects. It was part of the British/French consortium which constructed the Channel Tunnel at the end of the 1980s, and has been involved in Private Finance Initiative projects.

Redrow plc is one of the largest British housebuilders with a network of 12 operational divisions across the UK. It is based in Flintshire, Wales and employs 2,300 people. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is currently a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flaxby</span> Village and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England

Flaxby is a village and civil parish in the Harrogate district of North Yorkshire, England. It is close to the A1(M) motorway and 2 miles (3.2 km) east of Knaresborough.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bob Kerslake</span> British civil servant (1955–2023)

Robert Walter Kerslake, Baron Kerslake, was a British senior civil servant. He was the head of the Home Civil Service from 2011 to 2014, succeeding Sir Gus O'Donnell.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kier Group</span> British construction, services and property group

Kier Group plc is a British construction, services and property group active in building and civil engineering, support services, and the Private Finance Initiative.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Taylor Wimpey</span> British home construction company

Taylor Wimpey plc is one of the largest home construction companies in the United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northstowe</span> Town in Cambridgeshire, England, UK

Northstowe is a new town that will eventually have up to 10,000 homes, with an anticipated population of 24,400 in Cambridgeshire, England, UK. On 1 April 2021 Northstowe became a civil parish, the parish was formed from Longstanton and Oakington and Westwick, with the first town council elected on 6 May of that year. Northstowe has been in development for around 15 years and through varying political administrations. Originally proposed to be "an exemplar of sustainability in the use of renewable energy resources and reducing carbon emissions", Northstowe will still have many exemplar features including a Sustainable Urban Drainage Scheme (SUDS) and bus, bicycle and pedestrian only links. The Northstowe site is five miles (8 km) northwest of the city of Cambridge, between the villages of Oakington and Longstanton. The Northstowe development is being led by Homes England, the successor body to the Homes and Communities Agency, and the developers Gallagher Estates.

The Tenant Services Authority (TSA) was the operating name of the Office for Tenants and Social Landlords, the former regulatory agency of registered providers of social housing in England.

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Ilke Homes was a UK housebuilder specialising in modular homes for both social housing and for open market sale and private rental. Established in 2017, it went into administration in June 2023, owing £320 million and making over 1,100 workers redundant.

Modern methods of construction (MMC) is a term used in the UK construction industry to refer to "smart construction" processes designed to improve upon traditional design and construction approaches by focussing on component and process standardisation, design for manufacture and assembly (DfMA), prefabrication, preassembly, off-site manufacture (OSM) and onsite innovations such as additive manufacture. While such modern approaches may be applied to infrastructure works and to commercial or industrial buildings, MMC has become particularly associated with construction of residential housing.

References

  1. ↑ "Homes England - Office access and opening times". GOV.UK. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
  2. 1 2 Wehner, Piers (18 October 2023). "Freeman stays on as Homes England chair". Estates Gazette. Retrieved 15 March 2024.
  3. 1 2 "Chief Executive Officer: Peter Denton". Gov.UK. Retrieved 15 March 2024.
  4. ↑ Inside Housing: New agencies will face 'huge challenges'
  5. ↑ "Every Tenant Matters: A Review of Social housing Regulation by Professor Martin Cave". Archived from the original on 12 October 2010. Retrieved 19 December 2008.
  6. ↑ "aboutproperty.co.uk". www.aboutproperty.co.uk. Archived from the original on 7 June 2008. Retrieved 19 December 2008.
  7. ↑ Brown reveals housebuilding tsar, The Observer, 16 December 2007. Retrieved 28 May 2010
  8. ↑ Tenants to get a stronger voice at national level Archived 5 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine , CLG, 17 October 2008
  9. ↑ Sir Bob Kerslake appointed as permanent secretary at Communities and Local Government Archived 19 September 2010 at the UK Government Web Archive , HCA, 6 September 2010
  10. ↑ Speech to the Chartered Institute of Housing Conference, 24 June 2010. Transcript on CLG website.
  11. ↑ Document leak shows HCA is 'under review' Archived 30 September 2010 at the Wayback Machine , Inside Housing, 24 September 2010
  12. ↑ "Tenant Services Authority to be abolished". Press notice. 14 October 2010. Archived from the original on 9 December 2010. Retrieved 24 June 2011.
  13. ↑ "Reform of Homes and Communities Agency unveiled". Press notice. DCLG. 23 November 2010. Archived from the original on 13 August 2012. Retrieved 24 June 2011.
  14. ↑ "Shapps welcomes publication of Kickstart assessments". CLG. 26 November 2010. Archived from the original on 30 November 2010. Retrieved 29 November 2010.
  15. ↑ "HCA signs landmark private sector deal". Inside Housing. 3 September 2010. Archived from the original on 9 September 2010. Retrieved 29 November 2010.
  16. ↑ Will Hurst (3 December 2010). "HCA forced to reveal details of poor housing". Building Design. Archived from the original on 6 December 2010. Retrieved 8 December 2010.
  17. ↑ "About us".
  18. ↑ Regulator slams landlord for its London repairs service Archived 24 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine , Inside Housing, 11 February 2015
  19. ↑ Welsh government: Housing Regulation, gov.wales website
  20. ↑ Spencer, Josh (11 January 2018). "HCA relaunches as Homes England". Inside Housing. Retrieved 15 March 2024.
  21. ↑ "Strategic Plan 2018/19 – 2022/23" (PDF). Homes England. Retrieved 15 March 2024.
  22. ↑ Geoghegan, John (31 October 2023). "Homes England reveals plan to boost housing delivery across South East". Planning. Retrieved 15 March 2024.
  23. ↑ Homes England (13 August 2019). "Sir Edward Lister resigns as Homes England Chair" (Press release). Government of the United Kingdom. Retrieved 15 August 2019.
  24. ↑ "Nick Walkley steps down as Homes England CEO". Homes England. Retrieved 15 March 2024.
  25. ↑ "Homes England's MMC research study takes shape". Homes England. Retrieved 15 March 2024.
  26. ↑ "Homes England strategic plan 2023 to 2028". Homes England. 25 May 2023. Retrieved 15 March 2024.
  27. ↑ Morby, Aaron (4 November 2019). "Government pumps £30m into modular house builder". Construction Enquirer. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
  28. ↑ Morby, Aaron (27 September 2021). "Ilke Homes raises £60m for top 10 house builder plan". Construction Enquirer. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
  29. ↑ Morby, Aaron (6 December 2022). "Ilke Homes pulls off £100m record-breaking fund raise". Construction Enquirer. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
  30. ↑ O'Connor, Rob (6 December 2022). "ilke Homes announces new £100m investment". Infrastructure Intelligence. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
  31. ↑ Gardiner, Joey (30 June 2023). "Ilke Homes sinks into administration with most of firm's 1,100 staff set to lose their jobs". Building. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
  32. ↑ Riding, James (30 June 2023). "Modular house builder Ilke Homes enters administration with majority of staff to be made redundant". Inside Housing. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
  33. ↑ Morby, Aaron (30 June 2023). "Ilke Homes falls into administration". Construction Enquirer. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
  34. ↑ Prior, Grant (25 August 2023). "Ilke Homes went under owing £320m". Construction Enquirer. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
  35. ↑ Willmore, James (14 February 2024). "Homes England to lose most of £68.8m it is owed from Ilke Homes following collapse". Inside Housing. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
  36. ↑ Prior, Grant (22 November 2023). "TopHat agrees £15m loan with Homes England". Construction Enquirer. Retrieved 15 March 2024.
  37. ↑ "MMC sector may continue to struggle without a fresh approach from the Government". UK Parliament - Committees. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
  38. ↑ Aaron, Morby (26 January 2024). "Government wasted millions on failed MMC housing push". Construction Enquirer. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
  39. ↑ "House of Lords calls for transparency in Government MMC initiatives". PBC Today. 26 January 2024. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
  40. ↑ "Redditch couple "buy their own hedge" from government". BBC News. 21 January 2020. Retrieved 25 January 2020.
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