How was it for you?
As the One Wales Government reaches the end of its term in office, Keith Edwards says its time for an honest appraisal of what’s been achieved.
We chose Change as our theme for TAI 2010 for two reasons: to recognise the step change that’s taken place in housing since the One Wales Government came to office in 2007; and secondly because the biggest certainty going forward was the once-in-a-lifetime change that would follow a global economic crisis. Change was coming, and some. As we near the end of the current Assembly term, we need most of all an honest and mature assessment of what’s been achieved and therefore what we need to do going forward.
By far the most important change in the last four years has been the decision of tenants in ten local authorities to vote to transfer to new landlords. Added to the original transfer in V2C, precisely half of all local authorities will no longer be the main provider of homes for rent in their area. From less than 10% of the total number four years ago, transfer registered social landlords (RSLs) are about to overtake traditional RSLs in terms of number of homes, doubling the size of the sector as a whole. And it’s not just about numbers. The new RSLs are different beasts in ways that are already having an impact on their traditional ‘cousins’. They share exactly the same boundaries with their local authority. They have taken tenant involvement to a new level initially because they had to win the support of often sceptical tenants for transfer. Four of the eleven transfers are community mutuals, raising the involvement bar even further. RCT Homes now has a staggering 3,500 tenant shareholders with a further 600 applications pending.
Housing led regeneration
The biggest difference of all is that the new organisations have what CIH Cymru calls housing led regeneration hardwired in with the added advantage of having over £1.5 billion to spend over five years in some of the most disadvantaged communities in Wales. They are also committed to the ‘local local’ WHQS plus agenda first mooted in the i2i/Savills report in 2008 that aims to keep the WHQS pound within the communities in which tenants actually live. Traditional RSLs have also made a significant contribution to the housing led regeneration agenda, but renewed impetus has come from the transfers and one or two retention local authorities who together with i2i and JobMatch helped develop and champion the Can Do Toolkit. In the first year of the toolkit landlords helped create almost 500 new jobs and long term traineeships. Its influence continues to extend – it has become a requirement for the ARBED programme and has been used in public sector contracts in England and Northern Ireland.
The second most significant change has been the way in which Government and partners have succeeded in gaining new powers. Passing the recent housing LCO involved a lot of behind the scenes lobbying and not a little political brinkmanship. The key to this has been the relationships between Government and the sector and the unanimity on the need for new powers and the scope of issues to be covered. This grew out of the Essex process which gave many rich lessons. First there were the quick wins, relatively minor changes that made an impact but, as importantly, sent a clear message across the housing community that change was coming. Then there were the process outcomes – not an oxymoron – like the new regulatory framework for RSLs and redefining the role of local authorities in SHG. There are also issues that were flagged up subsequently – the post-Essex agenda that CIH Cymru has been leading some of the thinking on, including a unified and flexible housing system and reform of local authority finance. And above all the progress towards the 6,500 new affordable homes target which still looks to be achievable – just!
Beware of premature triumphalism!
There is of course another side to this – welcome as the new homes are we shouldn’t forget the limited impact this will make on the estimated 97,000 people and families on waiting lists, or the 14,200 homes per year that WAG itself estimates are needed to meet current and future housing need. And ‘housing need’ means thousands of real people, suffering day in day out because they don’t have access to a decent affordable home. We have to avoid any sense of premature triumphalism about what’s been achieved to date.
If we operated as a nation in isolation, this might be the end of the story. We don’t of course – housing markets, recessions, even changes of Government inevitably have a major impact on Wales and to a large extent limit our ability to fashion our own housing solutions. We may be out of sync with our WHQS improvement programme as the English equivalent comes to an end, but the austere prospects for the public sector and the knock on effect for the economy are likely to be more severe here than virtually any where else in the UK. As Dave Adamson, chief executive of the Centre for Regeneration Excellence (CREW) points out, many of our communities in places like the Heads of the Valleys haven’t recovered from the last ‘slash and burn’ austerity programme of 30 years ago.
It’s still early days to predict the impact of UK policy – both directly and indirectly – on Wales, in part at least because of the lack of detail. If the Big Society is really about localism, the promotion of mutualism and social enterprises, then this is territory Wales in general and housing in particular should feel comfortable with. However, the message that everything is secondary to deficit reduction will test the rhetoric and our ability to deliver. We already know that the proposed reforms to Housing Benefit will have a massive impact on tenants and their landlords. We will know more after the Comprehensive Spending Review in October.
The next steps forward
So what should we be doing going forward? CIH Cymru has been discussing a number of ideas with members, politicians and partners.
Putting powers into practice. Although we can’t be fully insulated from UK Government reforms, the LCO and the prospect of more powers will allow us more freedom than ever to fashion housing and regeneration policy. Flexible tenure, reform of the HRA, a national strategy for empty properties and reforming the private rented sector are on many people’s action list including CIH Cymru.
A Wales approach to welfare reform. Local authorities, RSLs and housing related support organisations are best placed to help people back into meaningful, long term employment. The WHQS plus arc – from Neath-Port Talbot through the valleys to Monmouth in the south and from Conwy through Gwynedd to Ceredigion in the north west – is already focussing on local local regeneration and new models of community ownership and social enterprises. CIH Cymru is working with WAG and partners to promote a Wales approach to welfare to work based on public service values rather than private profit
A new Concordat with the Welsh Assembly Government. We have to build on the work of the One Wales Government and partners by honestly reviewing the experience of the last four years. We have to make sure that there is a consistent narrative not driven by PR and spin. We need to avoid over-claiming our successes or underplaying difficult facts. CIH Cymru has been engaging members and the wider housing community to develop Housing Pact Cymru to be presented to the First Minister and the leaders of all political parties at TAI 2011 based on our offer to, and ask of, the new administration.
Housing led regeneration: the next steps. There are huge opportunities opening up in the green and digital economies – opportunities that housing has a head start of experience in. Pioneering work in the Heads of the Valleys, Gwent and north east Wales put us in a good position to learn form each other and champion the new economy.
A sober assessment of the last four years should focus on the very real progress that will form the legacy of the One Wales Government, as well tell us what remains to be done. This is a pre-requisite for taking our ambitions to the next level after the 2011 elections.
Conversation 2010
CIH Cymru is engaged in its most comprehensive dialogue ever with members. Starting with events across Wales, Conversation 2010 is an ongoing opportunity for members and the wider housing community to shape the housing policy and practice agenda in Wales. We welcome your ideas on what we need to do to ensure that the housing system of the future is fit for purpose.
Conversation 2010 will feed into a number of specific initiatives including:
- Housing Pact Cymru – our ask of the next Welsh Government and our promise to them to be presented to leaders of all political parties at TAI 2011
- Scenario 2015 – our ambition to shape a new sustainable housing system for Wales
If you want to participate in Conversation 2010 or find out more information email conversation2010@cih.org