Regeneration super agency to save tax payers £1bn

The creation of the government’s planned housing and regeneration super agency will save the tax payer over £1bn pounds, according to government estimates released today.

The Homes and Communities agency will cost £22.1m to set up according to the official impact assessment released by the Communities Department. However, it says the agency will save £1,168m over the next seven years through increasing efficiencies gained by combining the work of the existing quangos the Housing Corporation and English Partnerships.

The agency is supposed to be up and running before April next year. However chief executive designate Sir Bob Kerslake has committed himself to attempting to get the agency operating before the end of the year.

The agency cannot be set up without the passage through parliament of the Housing and Regeneration Bill, which has now passed its third reading.