Press Release - Housing Market Renewal
9 November 2007
The pathfinders housing market renewal programme has been
running for five years and the government has commited £2.2 billion
to it up to 2011. Low demand for housing is now less severe in
pathfinder areas and the gap between these areas and surrounding
regions has started to close. However, it is not possible to
identify a causal link between pathfinder activity and these
changes in housing markets, as there are many other factors
involved. While it has improved conditions for some neighbourhoods,
for others it has led to heightened stress in the short term.
As part of the government's radical approach to addressing the
problems of neighbourhoods which have suffered long-standing
deprivation, the pathfinders programme was introduced in nine areas
in the Midlands and the North of England.
Under the programme, 40,000 homes have been refurbished and
1,100 new homes built. Some 10,200 properties have also been
demolished. In a number of areas there has been opposition to
demolition projects, and the original plans to demolish 90,000
properties have been reduced to 57,100 in response to pathfinders’
greater knowledge of local housing markets and its focus on more
targeted geographical areas, as well as rising property costs and
in recognition of the heritage attached to some of the properties
originally due for demolition.
One key goal of the pathfinders programme is to close the gap in
vacancy rates and in house prices with wider regional performance.
Although on the whole the gap has narrowed, progress has been mixed
across the nine areas. Housing markets have performed better in
pathfinder local authorities than in those authorities with the
most similar level of low demand problems to the pathfinders areas.
In some areas there is a risk that plans to build homes in the
wider regions could threaten pathfinder efforts to restructure
housing markets in their own areas.
The management of the programme has also led to problems. The
need to make early progress meant that, in the first tranche of
£500 million, a number of schemes were set in hand before
pathfinders put in place their regeneration master plans, community
engagement strategies and heritage assessments.
Pathfinder interventions have, in some cases, exacerbated low
demand problems in the short-term as houses have been vacated in
advance of demolition or refurbishment. In some areas speculative
purchases have added to the already transient nature of the
communities and led to estimated additional costs of £50 million in
implementing the programme.
The NAO found that more could be done to strengthen the
assessment of performance and value for money achieved by engaging
more actively with each pathfinder to identify and disseminate best
practice. The Department needs to clarify arrangements for the
delivery of the Housing Market Renewal programme for the future. It
must be clearer about the programme’s contribution to non-housing
regeneration, such as better schools and transport links, which
also help to improve housing markets.
All the pathfinders claim majority support for their proposals.
The NAO found that, in some cases, particularly where demolition is
proposed, the way the programme is implemented is crucial in
gaining community trust and support. The NAO report contains
recommendations to ensure communities fully understand proposals
and community support is monitored at all stages as plans develop.
Proposals for intervention should be based on detailed assessments
of the structural condition and heritage value of the housing
targeted for demolition and the residents’ own views of the
problems they face.
Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, said
today:
“Housing market renewal is a radical programme but it is
a high risk approach. While there have been physical improvements
in some neighbourhoods, it is unclear whether intervention itself
has led to improvement in the problems of low demand. And in some
cases intervention has exacerbated problems in the
short-term.
“The Department for Communities and Local Government
needs to make sure that pathfinders not only delivers its regional
development plans, but also complements the broader regeneration of
areas contributing to better schools and transport
links.”
Notes for Editors:
- The Department for Communities and Local Government established
the Housing Market Renewal programme in 2002 to tackle the growing
problem of low demand for housing in the north of England and the
Midlands.
- Pathfinders are the nine sub-regional bodies established by the
Department to deliver the Housing Market Renewal programme.
- Press notices and reports are available from the date of
publication on the NAO website, which is at www.nao.org.uk. Hard
copies can be obtained from The Stationery Office on 0845 702
3474.
- The Comptroller and Auditor General, Sir John Bourn, is the
head of the National Audit Office, which employs some 850 staff. He
and the NAO are totally independent of Government. He certifies the
accounts of all Government departments and a wide range of other
public sector bodies; and he has statutory authority to report to
Parliament on the economy, efficiency and effectiveness with which
departments and other bodies have used their resources.
Press Notice 46/07
All enquiries to Mark Anderson,
NAO Press Office: Tel: 020 7798 7558
Mobile: 07796 937119