Northern Housing Consortium Chief Executive Tracy Harrison explains how the Renew inquiry is an essential part of the NHC’s vision that everyone has a safe, warm home that’s affordable to them in a place they’re proud of. The need for housing-led regeneration in the North must be met to make sure no one and no-where is left behind, and to unleash the benefits of economic growth in the North.

The NHC’s vision is “Everyone has a safe, warm home that’s affordable to them in a place they’re proud of.” 

Why? Because decent homes provide the foundation for a healthier, more fulfilling life, with a lower cost of living, better employment prospects and stronger community resilience. In Government language around priorities, this leads to higher productivity and economic growth. 

Social housing is critical. It is the most affordable and highest quality tenure, offering long term security for tenants. It is run by long-term landlords with stewardship over places – this means they have a real stake and role beyond bricks and mortar in supporting people to live their best lives. 

The Government’s housing strategy is focused on growth through new supply, with a big role for planning changes, alongside investment through the Social and Affordable Homes Programme and the National Housing Bank. This is all hugely welcome and very important. 

The housing crisis in the North

But while this strategy is critical and necessary, it is not sufficient for the whole country – the reality is the housing crisis looks different in different places, especially in the North. 

Alongside the need for new homes in the North, we have a greater proportion of ageing homes, including those reaching end of life; quality issues (particularly in the private rented sector), and viability issues due to low land values. These challenges sit alongside real concentrations of deprivation in some areas. 

So, to tackle the housing challenge and ultimately deliver economic growth, housing-led regeneration is needed across the North, alongside new supply.

Defining housing-led regeneration

Housing-led regeneration balances some core elements – new supply through redevelopment and use of existing land and estates, refurbishment and retrofit of existing homes, the replacement of housing no longer fit for purpose, and improvements to the surrounding area. The exact balance of these elements will vary across estates, towns and cities, and in many areas there is a need to also improve other tenures, especially the private rented sector.  

Housing-led regeneration supporting economic growth

The Government is currently pursuing economic regeneration through devolution. This is very welcome and a genuine attempt to rebalance the economy. The mix of growth funds, skills and employment funding, wider connectivity through transport – all brought together in integrated settlements – should provide a step-change.  

Housing-led regeneration supports this agenda through the provision of better housing and improvement of places. It capitalises on demand for homes unlocked through improved connectivity and infrastructure; directly creates jobs, links people into skills and employment opportunities and – very importantly – improves living standards. If we don’t address housing-led regeneration, economic growth will be undermined by poor quality housing and neighbourhoods, meaning some areas will continue to be left behind. 

Foundations for regeneration

We do have some of the pieces of the puzzle in place, and the role of integrated settlements certainly offers a better opportunity to join up around a place. The new long-term Social and Affordable Housing Programme with very welcome flexibilities around regeneration will also help. The Warm Homes Plan promises a role for Mayors and a place-based retrofit approach. The National Housing Delivery Fund will have a devolved element, and the National Housing Bank offers some interesting tools to unlock projects. 

Regeneration can’t just be bricks and mortar, it must be about people and building the social fabric of communities. Housing-led regeneration and the social housing landlords who have long-term relationships to places, people, and communities are a vital component of strong neighbourhoods. We really welcome the Government’s Pride in Place programme which will support this vital work. 

Taking housing-led regeneration further

But there is still a fundamental gap around housing-led regeneration, to enable social housing providers to really unlock the potential of people and places across the North.  

Ultimately, with the housing crisis manifesting itself so differently in so many places, we must re-imagine the way we support this vital work. Place must be the focal point. Flexibility in funding to enable whatever is needed to fix the issues locally – whether it be unlocking new supply by tackling viability issues, replacing existing homes and refurbishing others, or working across tenures – is the only way we can really make a difference. Crucially, funding must be long-term to enable ambitious projects to be seen through, and we must make sure community voices are at the heart of regeneration.  

Throughout this inquiry, we will be identifying the need for housing-led regeneration, the benefits it brings, what we can already do with the new support on offer, and what more we could deliver with additional support. We’ll put resident voices and experiences at the heart. We’ll explore what works and what doesn’t and identify how housing-led regeneration can be done well to drive economic growth and build stronger communities in the North.  

This collection of ‘Perspectives’ helps set the tone for the inquiry, bringing together some of the North’s leading voices on regeneration – indeed, some of the voices that inspired us to embark on this piece of work. The collection showcases examples of what good looks like – where housing-led regeneration transforms lives as well as homes. I hope that reading these Perspectives will similarly inspire you.