Tenure blind development & flexi-tenure 3 November 2010 Abigail Davies Head of Policy
Today Talking terms Policy & financial context Some problems & ideas The future A quick trip to Wales
Mixed tenure Properties with different tenures available within a locality Most modern development / regeneration Embedded in planning & funding policy Harder to create with asset management More recent emphasis on mixed income
Tenure blind Can t tell tenure just by looking Some modern development / regeneration Embedded in planning & funding policy But viability & negotiation acts against Tenure blind management is hard See Europe better for apartments?
Flexible tenure Ability to step up and down between & within tenures Right to Buy / Right to Acquire HomeBuy (& other LCHO models) Part ownership Rent to buy Mortgage Rescue
Neutral tenure Tenure is not predetermined, but is set according to means, needs, preferences of individual households Welsh Assembly Government approach Genus partnership Mid-Wales HA
Policy & finance (England) PPS3 planning guidance Mix of tenures, prices, household types Support access to ownership Linked to local need & affordability HCA funding prospectus Expect mixed tenure & sustainable communities Supports access to affordable ownership Sustainable communities Last year s language, but Still an established philosophy
Some challenges Tenure is a blunt instrument Do the available tenures really meet needs? Social concerns about social housing Mobility issues in LCHO (JRF) Reality of flexing down in LCHO The squeezed middle Larger households Poor public awareness
And some responses Broaden out options L&Q UpToYou Family Mosaic Parmiter Street CIH work More flexibility Mobility between providers Offer for second time buyers More proactive customer focus Coaching people to move on & up Marketing (see FSIH project)
Widening the rental housing market Defining the market A north-south divide? Looking to local market areas Providing what s needed Earnings : rents Market : social rents Access to ownership Role & profile of PRS Compromise ability to fund
Identifying the market all about local market/scheme dynamics 's per week - 2 bed property 250 200 150 100 50 Cost of 2/3bed house Median private rent RSL rent 0 Trafford S Lakeland Cheshire East Eden Ribble Valley Fylde Cheshire West Stockport Warrington Sefton Wyre South Ribble W Lancashire Wirral Manchester Allerdale Lancaster Chorley Bury Salford Preston Liverpool St. Helens Blackpool Carlisle Oldham Halton Tameside Bolton Rossendale Rochdale Barrow Knowsley Wigan Copeland B'burn w Hyndburn Pendle Burnley Source: Hometrack
Questions & caveats (1) Risk exposure / drain on financial capacity Interest covenants Role of sales income Need for up-front capital subsidy or equity Differentiating tenancies Importance of quality over consistency? Aspirational step up?
The future Re-jigging delivery plans NAHP for affordable rent S106 for LCHO & social rent? Plus cross subsidy & provider reserves? Government policy Age of aspiration Responsiveness to changing needs Households wanting safety net Young indebted households
A trip to Wales All SHG funded homes = neutral tenure One waiting list for all houses Households get to choose tenure Operates in needs based system Homes stay neutral tenure for ever S106 funds LCHO But almost all go to social rent Need to review allocations system
Concluding thoughts Mixed income aspiration likely to stay Challenge to meet wider range of needs Tension between aspiration & capacity Ideas are out there Different models work in different places Future world looks quite different Need to review Opportunity & need for new approaches
Abigail Davies abigail.davies@cih.org 024 76851756