Renewal project is vital if we are to meet targets for new homes

Nov 30 2007 by Iain Laing, The Journal

WE need to build more homes for the next generation. The fact is that too many people are being priced out of a home of their own because the country has failed to build enough housing for decades.

This Government has recently committed to building three million homes by 2020. We need to make sure that these are homes where people want to live, in communities with the jobs, services and infrastructure people need. This is why the Housing Market Renewal programme is so vital. We need to create the homes and communities of the future, while not abandoning those of the past.

Research into housing market failure carried out in early 2000 showed that some cities in the North and Midlands had suffered widespread abandonment of homes, with streets full of vacant properties at low prices leading to residents being trapped with poor services, high crime and anti-social behaviour. In some areas, properties were exchanging hands for no more than a few hundred pounds. It was clear that a radical new approach was required.

Between 2002 and 2008, the Government will have invested £1.2bn across the 12 housing market renewal areas to revive housing markets and regenerate communities through a combination of new and refurbished housing.

And I was delighted last month to be able to announce around an additional £1bn for the next three years of the programme.

This means that the housing market renewal partnerships can carry on making thousands of homes better for residents – to date more than 40,000 homes have been refurbished or improved.

I recently spent three days working with Bridging Newcastle Gateshead housing market renewal pathfinder, finding out what challenges they face, talking to local people, seeing for myself what work has already been carried out, and what remains to be done.

I am also about to embark on a tour of the other housing market renewal partnerships across the North and Midlands so I can discover what individual issues each area has, and what I can do to help.

One thing that has changed in the past few years is the fact that it’s not just people in the South-East who are finding it difficult to afford to buy a home; rising house prices are now affecting the whole of England.This is why it’s really encouraging that several of the areas bidding to become New Growth Points – councils which have come forward for extra new homes and jobs in their areas – are from housing market renewal areas.

The housing market renewal programme is a key priority for me personally; it is delivering new homes and communities providing benefits both for individuals and the whole country.

For more information on Constructing Excellence in the North-East, contact regional director, Catriona Lingwood, on (0191) 383- 7435or catriona@constructingexcellence-ne.org.uk