Northern Housing Consortium welcomes ‘regeneration flexibility’ in new SAHP

Six mayoral regions outside of London will be given the ability to “prioritise” indicative spending totalling £7bn.

Mr Murray said the integrated settlements under devolution are “really critical” with “a whole host” of different funding streams that will underpin that.

“The pace of central government and constantly being like, ‘you’ve got to deliver, what’s next, what’s next’, versus the ability in a place to take that long-term view, that’s where we can actually provide real solutions that work in places,” he said.

“And I think we’ve got some of the funding certainty that underpins that now, particularly around the grant on the SAHP.”

Mr Murray cited the benefits of housing-led regeneration and also urged stakeholders to give feedback for the NHC’s call for evidence to support its inquiry on the topic.

He said: “There’s the immediate boost to supply... and there’s actually an imperative to deliver as many homes as we can quickly, not just from a government perspective, but from a [perspective of it being] the right thing to do, we need those homes. That creates more jobs, more certainty, more confidence.

“You’re able to crowd in private investment, create more jobs, improve the places. And in the long run, you’re getting those wider benefits around health, prevention savings, and critically [benefit to areas of] lower economic activity. And that is core to unlocking productivity and thus growth. So, if we’re serious about growth, housing-led regeneration has to be part of the puzzle.”

Mr Murray said building the required homes will be “quite challenging”, but he pointed out two opportunities – housing partnerships and modern methods of construction.

“I think there’s something around the collaborative weight of a housing partnership, the size of the pipeline, the ability to work with combined authorities, who obviously have skills, money and powers, and then reach into the communities to get those people furthest from the labour market in,” he said.

Speaking on the same panel session, Pat Ritchie, interim chair of Homes England, highlighted the importance of innovation.

She said the National Housing Bank will work alongside the SAHP, the new towns programme and other developments on which Homes England is partnering with local government and national government.

“It’s a big opportunity, to think differently and to think innovatively about how we support delivery, not just in the short term. The short term is important, but also we all know you need a pipeline that continues to deliver beyond this period, although delivery within the next three or four years will be particularly important,” Ms Ritchie said.

She added: “I think we need to think quite flexibly about how we use the tools like the [National Housing Bank], like the SAHP, to really support that long-term vision for changing places.

“[Thinking] innovatively about land, about investment, about vehicles for delivery, are all part of the mix that we should be thinking about in delivering now, but also in delivering for the long term.”