Mayors to get control of grant funding and call-in powers under devolution plans

The document said: “To support mayors in delivering on their housing ambitions, all mayoral strategic authorities will be given control of grant funding to support regeneration and housing delivery.” 

More details will be presented at next spring’s Spending Review, the white paper said. 

However, it added: “Over time, the government is seeking to move towards full devolution of funds and delivery for affordable housing.”

At the moment, the government’s Affordable Homes Programme is administered by Homes England. 

The government agency will move to a more “regional and place-based operating model” to “align its structures and ways of working to the government’s devolution agenda”, the white paper said.

Homes England is already facing a period of upheaval as both its chief executive, Peter Denton, and chair, Peter Freeman, are leaving the agency.

In the interim, “established” mayoral strategic authorities will be able to set the “strategic direction” for any affordable housing programme in their area.

This will include shaping the tenure mix and “identifying priority sites for housing development to be supported by grant”, the white paper said.

Mayoral strategic authorities will get access to strategic place partnerships with Homes England. 

Explaining the move, the document said: “Decisions on affordable housing are currently taken too far away from mayors’ plans. It is vital that this changes so that decisions meaningfully recognise and respond to local growth plans and spatial development strategies.”

In the short term, mayors will be able to “steer and monitor” Homes England’s progress on delivering on strategic place partnerships, the white paper said. Any issues can be escalated to ministers, the document said.

Under the plans, mayors will also be given powers to raise a ‘Mayoral Community Infrastructure Levy’, to help deliver “strategic infrastructure projects”. 

All areas will be required to develop ‘spatial development strategies’, in which mayors will get a casting vote when a plan cannot be agreed among councils. 

Councils will also be able to take over the management of vacant residential premises and introduce large selective licensing schemes to improve conditions in the private rented sector, without requiring the housing secretary’s approval. 

As part of the wider proposals, the government is aiming to move towards unitary councils across England. It will mean that areas currently with two tiers being will be asked to draw up merger plans and could see some district councils abolished. 

The idea of a ‘strategic authority’ will also be written into law. The Greater London Authority, all mayoral combined authorities and combined county authorities will automatically start as mayoral strategic authorities, which will mean more devolved powers. 

Angela Rayner, the deputy prime minister and housing secretary, said the devolution plans will be “a turning point when we finally see communities, people and places across England begin to take back control over the things that matter to them”. 

The Local Government Association (LGA), which represents nearly all of England’s councils, gave a cautious welcome to the plans.

“In a very centralised country, moving funding and power from Whitehall to local leaders is needed, but it must be done in a way where empowered councils and the communities they serve are at the heart of decision-making,” said Louise Gittins, chair of the LGA.

However, the District Councils’ Network (DCN) raised concerns.

“While we welcome the government’s commitment to extend devolution England-wide, the imposition of mega-councils with a minimum population of 500,000 is the opposite of devolution, taking powers away from local communities,” said Sam Chapman-Allen, chair of the DCN.

The British Property Federation (BPF) branded the white paper as a “positive step forward”. However, the group said it was concerned about the idea of allowing councils to set up a selective licensing scheme for the private rented sector without the approval of central government.

“Selective licensing should be a targeted tool that is used by local authorities to tackle the worst landlords operating the worst standards,” said Ian Fletcher, director of policy (real estate) at the BPF.

“Unfortunately, at present it is too much of a scattergun that catches the best landlords as well as the worst. Through its loosening of policy today, good landlords will fear that the government has made such schemes even more indiscriminate.”

He added: “We would urge the government to think more about how to reduce the bureaucracy of such schemes, simplify processes, and grant exemptions where there is no need to license. Care will need to be taken to ensure that local schemes support the supply of new high-quality rented homes.”