The appointment of Andy Burnham as Prime Minister, Angela Rayner’s return as Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, and the retention of Matthew Pennycook as Housing Minister have been broadly welcomed across the housing sector. Many commentators have highlighted the benefits of continuity, particularly at a time when significant planning and housing reforms are already underway.
While early indications suggest that housing will remain a central government priority, it remains to be seen how this will translate into delivery. Sector commentary has pointed to a range of potential priorities, from increased council housebuilding and affordable housing delivery to greater involvement from Homes England, local authorities, registered providers and combined authorities.
The Prime Minister’s commitment to increased council housing raises questions around funding, land availability and local authority delivery capacity. The extent to which registered providers are expected to drive delivery will also be an important issue to watch.
Industry bodies have also called for further support for first-time buyers, planning reform, improved local authority decision making and greater coordination across the housing sector.
“Manchesterism” in the South West?
The Prime Minister has frequently described his approach as “Manchesterism”, a model that seeks to combine economic growth with social outcomes through strong local institutions and devolved decision-making. Political and social commentators widely expect the Prime Minister to expand this model nationwide, with local and combined authorities playing a major role in housing delivery.
It is therefore reasonable to assume that the West of England Combined Authority (“WECA”) will remain a key player in housing strategy affecting the South West. That is not a new direction of travel. WECA’s Housing Delivery Strategy is already in play, and the authority has been working with constituent councils, housing associations, Homes England and local communities to pool skills, resources and land to support more affordable housing delivery across the region.
WECA is also heavily involved in the region’s key regeneration and development schemes including Bristol Temple Quarter, where it invested £95 million, Hengrove Park (£19.8 million) and Bath Riverside (£8.3 million). Under the Burnham premiership, the question may therefore be less about whether WECA should play a role, and more about whether existing local and national programmes can be joined up more effectively, supported by clearer accountability, stronger delivery structures and, potentially, further devolved powers and funding. This will come as welcome news, given the proposed redevelopment of Bristol’s historic harbourside and wider development and regeneration further afield.
The challenge for the Prime Minister is that combined authorities such as WECA do not possess all the powers needed to solve the region’s housing crisis independently. Local planning powers remain with constituent councils, and many housing delivery challenges, including development viability, labour shortages, environmental constraints and infrastructure costs, remain outside WECA’s direct control. Therefore, while WECA will certainly have its role to play in South West housing delivery, devolved power and funding will not, on their own, solve the housing crisis in the region.
The evolving role of Homes England
A key player in the housing development orbit is Homes England. Acting as the Government’s housing and regeneration agency, Homes England is responsible for supporting the delivery of new homes through land assembly, funding, infrastructure investment and partnerships with local authorities and developers. Homes England plays a pivotal role in the social and affordable housing sphere, with at least £27 billion of funding provided by Homes England forming part of the Government’s £39 billion pledge to increase social and affordable housing delivery in the coming years.
However, with housing delivery invariably failing to meet nationwide targets and many large regeneration projects facing infrastructure and viability issues, there is increasing discussion regarding how Homes England’s existing role should evolve. This should not be characterised as a standing start. Homes England is already aligned with the devolution agenda: its Strategic Plan recognises the need to strengthen regional teams, work more closely with mayors and local leaders, and support place-based delivery.
In the West of England specifically, Homes England and WECA have already entered into a Strategic Place Partnership to support locally led housing and regeneration ambitions, advance existing projects such as Bristol Temple Quarter, and develop a shared plan to accelerate growth in the region. The issue, therefore, is not that Homes England or WECA have failed to engage with devolution, but that the various strands of strategy, funding, land assembly, infrastructure investment and delivery have not always been sufficiently joined up.
The potential significance of the National Housing Bank is that it could provide a clearer financial mechanism through which Homes England’s regional model, mayoral partnerships and local delivery strategies can be brought together. If it succeeds, its role may be to connect capital with locally led priorities, helping to move viable schemes from strategy into delivery. If it does not, there is a risk that the sector will continue to see a range of well-intentioned initiatives operating alongside one another, without the coordination needed to unlock sites at pace.
Ultimately, the direction that the Government and Homes England decide to take will depend on whether they can turn this existing alignment into a more coordinated delivery model. The challenge is unlikely to be the absence of strategy or ambition. Rather, it will be whether Homes England, the National Housing Bank, combined authorities such as WECA, constituent councils, registered providers and the private sector can operate as part of a genuinely joined-up system capable of unlocking land, funding infrastructure and accelerating delivery.
Through our ‘Housing outlook’ series, we will monitor the key developments that emerge over the coming months and consider what they may mean for developers, SME housebuilders, landowners, registered providers and other stakeholders operating within the housing sector.
