Homes England has looked to the past for its current leadership, so, asks Simon Graham, what does it mean for the future of the agency?
Whither Homes England? Or should that be Wither Homes England? Last month, the government announced Pat Ritchie as the new interim chair of its housing investment agency. She joins recently installed interim chief executive, Eamonn Boylan. Both are veterans of the early days of Homes England’s predecessor organisation, the Homes and Communities Agency, and also veterans in the sense of being at the tail-end of long public service careers. Neither is a long-term bet. Which rather suggests the government is looking to two safe pairs of hands to hold the fort while it determines exactly what it wants to do with the agency.
The resignations of the previous chief executive and chair last November were a sure-fire indication the government is not happy with the organisation’s performance, despite protestations by both men that their decisions were their own and that the agency’s targets were being met. This despite deputy PM Angela Rayner having revealed in July that the 2021-26 Affordable Housing Programme (AHP) would deliver only 110,000-130,000 new homes, against an original target of 180,000. Many factors have gone into that shortfall, but there is little doubt Labour attributes some of the underperformance to the way Homes England operates.
In September, housing minister Matthew Pennycook issued a letter to the then Homes England chair, Peter Freeman, to ‘support the clarity and focus’ of the agency by laying out the government’s immediate priorities for it, while a new long-term housing strategy is developed (expected soon) and the Spending Review is finalised.
The two overarching priorities were confirmed as boosting growth through delivery of new housing supply and regeneration and placemaking. Supporting these, Pennycook called for Homes England to do everything possible to accelerate development and increase delivery; maximise the number of new homes for social rent; support the New Homes Accelerator in reinvigorating and speeding up the build out of large sites; support work on new towns and other major schemes; help diversify and reform the market by encouraging the growth of the SME and build to rent sectors and boosting take-up of modern methods of construction; focus on value for money by putting a new operating model in place aligned with the government’s devolution agenda; and contribute to the ministry’s case for the upcoming Spending Review.
Freeman and then CEO Peter Denton, both originally from commercial backgrounds and appointed just four years ago by the Conservative government, barely had time to read the letter before they concluded it was time to go.
Boylan started work early this year, with the firm message ringing in his ears to deliver ‘at pace’ on the government’s agenda, reinforcing the perception that ministers viewed the agency as sluggish and somewhat inflexible in its dealings.
The announcements have since come thick and fast. Homes England has bought the Broad Marsh shopping centre and surrounding land from Nottingham City Council for a 1,000-home regeneration, plus retail and office space, creating 2,000 jobs.
In April, the agency bought 34 hectares of land in Warrington to deliver up to 4,200 homes, including schools, health facilities, recreation and green spaces, but, more crucially, unlocking the whole South East Warrington urban extension across over 250 hectares by enabling essential access infrastructure works.
There’s a new partnership with Plymouth City Council to create a ‘new town in the city centre’, with a plan for up to 12,000 homes in and around the city over the next 15 years, through infrastructure works and regeneration.
A new strategic place partnership with Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority has been signed – the seventh such deal – and covering the new Northstowe settlement of 10,000 homes.
New deals with Octopus Real Estate and Maslow Capital will see money funnelled to SME builders to support new greener homes building and the decontamination and remediation of brownfield sites.
It is clear that Boylan sees land assembly, the de-risking of sites and other investment to get sites moving as key tools in Homes England’s armoury.
He wants to align the agency’s work closely with mayoral priorities and regionally agreed objectives and foresees Homes England operating as a master developer more regularly.
He has also pledged that 60% of the initial £850million Affordable Homes Programme top-ups the government supplied will go on building social rent homes and stated that building ‘affordable’ homes too many people cannot afford is not acceptable.
Unsurprisingly, the appointment of interims to both the chair and chief executive positions has provoked speculation that the government intends to absorb Homes England into the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government. Boylan initially refused to comment, but has since denied there is any such intention.
This is not an NHS England situation; Homes England does not replicate what central civil servants do. It has a unique role, which would probably be tricky for the housing ministry to take on. The original Housing Corporation was established in 1963 and, despite numerous reviews, has always survived as the government’s housing investment agency in one guise or another.
It’s no accident that Boylan and Ritchie are not just Homes and Communities Agency alumni, but have strong experience of working in and with combined authorities and regional development agencies. They are well attuned to the government’s desire to make the investment paths to housing growth through devolved, locally accountable organisations much smoother and more effective. Homes England’s ultimate fate may depend on how well they are perceived to have succeeded 18 months from now.
This article was first featured in Show House Magazine. Read more like this and the latest industry insight here.
