Local boards point to 'lack of freedom' as central government hints at change of priorities
Minsters are poised to rewrite regional housing strategies because they fail to address national priorities.

The nine regional housing strategies have already come under fire for not containing enough detailed information (HT 29 August, page 8).

The government is now understood to be concerned that they don't give high enough priority to public service agreements, such as the decent homes target, to be met by 2010.

Sarah Webb, director of policy at the Chartered Institute of Housing, is to report on the strategies to the ODPM.

She told delegates at last week's National Housing Federation conference: "The main risks are that ministers will rewrite the housing strategies. Neil McDonald [head of housing at the ODPM] doesn't want to do that, but if some of them do not meet public service agreements there will be some rewriting going on."

McDonald was unavailable for comment at the time of going to press, but an ODPM spokeswoman said: "Ministers are in the process of considering the strategies. Until that is complete there is not a lot we can say."

Only one of the nine strategies – for the east of England – names decent homes as one of its top two priorities. More popular choices include regional concerns such as market renewal and affordable housing.

Steve Machin, chief executive of the North-west regional assembly and a member of the regional housing board, defended the local strategy. If it was changed, he said, "there would be concern in the North-west because it would underscore issues about the absence of freedom to set our own regional priorities".

He added that the decent homes target was "obviously a priority, but in our view less pressing [than low demand]."

Housing Today revealed earlier this year that a clash between national government and the regional housing boards was imminent (HT 6 June, page 7).

Webb went on to say that some of the strategies had confused priorities.

She pointed to the West Midlands strategy, which lists urban regeneration as its first priority and rural regeneration second, adding: "I defy anybody to come with a project that couldn't be funded out of one of these pots."

Source

Housing Today