Better Homes, Places, Opportunities – the Council’s Housing Strategy to 2015

Better Homes, Places, Opportunities – the Council’s Housing Strategy to 2015 A presentation to the Better Homes

Partnership Board – 16th September 2009

Steve Douglas, Corporate Director Neighbourhoods and Regeneration

Better Homes, Places, Opportunities

• Our ambitions: where we would like to be by 2015

• Context & challenges

• Our key proposals

• Our key asks

Where we want to be by 2015

Measurable progress on the housing aspects of the Sustainable Communities Strategy, notably:

• Well-planned growth that supports sustainable communities

• estate renewal delivery

• More locally affordable homes

• Reduced worklessness and better, locally co-ordinated services

Underpinned by:

• Quality, innovation, resident engagement, and the best use of partnership resources

Some key achievements so far

• 2 star ALMO

• 1,700 new NAHP-funded homes 2008/9 and 2009/10

• 50%+ of social rented three bedrooms or more

• Estate renewal: cleared sites for 800 new homes

• City Strategy Pathfinder: 800+ helped into work

Contextual changes - 1

• Large rise in private renting since 2003

• No rise in mortgaged owner-occupation

• Drop in relets from social rented stock

• Credit crunch/ economic downturn

Contextual changes - 2

• HCA – Single Conversation on housing and regeneration

• Draft London Housing Strategy

• Olympic MAA

Housing growth in Hackney – planned and potential

Key challenges

• Popularity of the borough and land use pressures

• Best fit between needs/ aspirations and resources

• Getting design right

• Challenging GLA targets

Our Housing Strategy

1. Mixed and sustainable communities: Quality, affordable homes for all income groups

2. Attractive neighbourhoods: Places where people want to live

3. Prosperous Communities: The chance for everyone to thrive and earn a good living

Core Objective One: Mixed & sustainable

communitiesKey priority areas

include:

• Tackling homelessness and overcrowding, especially through best use of existing resources

• Increasing housing supply where feasible

• Getting the family-sized “offer” right

Core Objective One: Key priority areas (2)

• Improved housing advice and information

• Ensuring intermediate housing becomes a real tenure of choice, for those on middle incomes, especially some social housing tenants

• Tapping into a thriving private rented sector without compromising other strategic objectives (eg reduced worklessness)

Core Objective Two: Attractive neighbourhoods

Key priority areas:

• Delivering estate renewal programmes

• Maintain and improve other social housing stock

• Decent homes in the private sector

Core Objective Two:Key priority areas (2)

• High quality standards of design

• Climate change and fuel poverty

• High management standards across all rented housing

Core Objective Three: Prosperous communities

Key priority areas:

• Worklessness: build on the City Strategy Pathfinder

• Improved service co-ordination/integration and strengthened neighbourhood role

The Single Conversation in Hackney

• The process by which HCA will engage with LAs on all aspects of housing and regeneration

• Connects our local ambitions and priorities with national targets

• Strategy, investment, capacity and delivery

• Early output - a Local Investment Plan, articulating shared priorities

• Important for us to speak with a single voice on housing & regeneration

• …. and for the MAA boroughs !