Joined by our Chair, Lord Best, #Renew visited Scarborough, a regeneration priority for the North Yorkshire Council, designated the country’s first coastal Mayoral Development Zone by the York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority, and part of the Government’s Pride in Place programme. 

Nick Atkin, Chief Executive, Yorkshire Housing and Chair, York and North Yorkshire Housing Partnership, talked about the work of the Yorkshire and North Yorkshire Housing Partnership, and the launch of their Affordable Homes Standard in 2025, a pioneering approach setting clear expectations for the quality and design of homes delivered through planning agreements with developers. Developed with housing providers, local authorities, and the Combined Authority, it covers energy efficiency, space, accessibility and long-term performance, helping ensure homes are built to a consistent standard and avoid future retrofit issues. The standard has been extended to cover the quality standard for all social and affordable rented homes across the region. 

Nick made the point that coastal and rural housing is the Cinderella of regeneration, behind the beauty masks a whole set of deep-rooted issues as well as opportunities… and when the vision and the funding come together you can really make a difference.  

Led by Helen Jackson and Hannah Heinemann, we saw various sites including Scarborough Train Station gateway, the Stephen Joseph Theatre, and former Brunswick Shopping Centre. Through investment in the public realm and funding from the Pride in Place programme, a ‘Station to the Shore’ corridor will be created mixing leisure and hospitality that will encourage more people to live, work, and spend time in the town centre.   

We then moved onto Eastborough, highlighting Scarborough Old Town. The group discussed a variety of issues, from the impact of holiday lets to anti-social behaviour and the PRS. At Beyond Housing’s East Mount Flats, Richard Cooper, Head of Asset Management, Beyond Housing talked about the viability challenges around the cost of remedial works needed for buildings that are in high demand.   

Travelling to near-by Eastfield, the group visited the Construction Skills Training Village, housed on an old farm site, which has made a huge impact providing education and training across sustainable methods of construction. The site has changed ownership and will be opening again in September, offering the only construction skills provision in the area. 

Attendees also saw Sandcastles, a Later Living development which formed part of the wider Eastfield regeneration investment plan, led by Teresa Snaith. The development consists of a mix of 2 and 3 bedroom bungalows, cottage apartments and a few two storey houses, all designed to promote a safe and secure environment and to create a sense of community for likeminded people wishing to live and age well in their retirement years. 

Thank you to the York and North Yorkshire Housing Partnership, and the North Yorkshire Council for an interesting day that was incredibly valuable to the Renew Inquiry. 

“I want kids from this estate to look across the city and see a real, achievable future before them, a future that with investment in their roots, can give them hope to grow.”  

Lara Joyce, Secretary, Gleadless Valley Tenants and Residents Association (GVTARA). 

That’s what regeneration is about, the people and the community. This came through strongly in our Renew inquiry tour of Sheffield earlier this month. The tour was hosted by Great Places, Places for People, Sheffield City Council and Urban Splash who showed us around various regeneration sites and talked through the projects.  

We started the tour with the Gleadless Valley. The Vision for the Valley sets out a long-term plan to transform Gleadless Valley into a thriving neighbourhood with improved homes, local services, community facilities and green spaces. This part of the tour was led by Matthew Nimmo, Head of Project Delivery – Estates Regeneration, Sheffield City Council; Alexis Krachai, Independent Chair, Gleadless Valley Regeneration Board and Lara Joyce, Secretary, Gleadless Valley Tenant and Residents Association. 

Importantly, the vision is built on the principle of community power. “… local people are the true experts in their communities.” The GVTARA plays a central role in shaping the future of the Valley. 

Attendees visited the Gaunt Neighbourhood which is one of a network of local centres identified in the Vision as essential to day-to-day life, providing access to services, community facilities and social space within walking distance of homes. We also stopped at Herdings which is identified in the Vision as a priority for more comprehensive regeneration and investment to make a great family neighbourhood with a park at the heart.  

From this view point Lara talked about what can be seen by local residents including the Peak District, iconic sports grounds and two well-respected universities. Lara made the point that through meaningful regeneration, residents in areas in Gleadless Valley can look across the city and see a real, achievable future before them, a future that with investment in their roots, can give them hope to grow. (You can read her article about Gleadless Valley on the Perspectives page of the Renew website). 

Park Hill, the largest Grade II* listed building in Europe, is being transformed through a long-term regeneration programme led by Urban Splash. Great Places has been involved in the project since 2004 and delivered 94 affordable homes as part of Phase 1, which completed in 2013. Sian Stanhope, Development Manager, Urban Splash, Nick Cumberland, Director of Programmes and Business Development, Great Places and Nilam Buchanan, Managing Director- Central and North, Places for People, led this part of the tour.   

Established in the 2010’s, a joint venture between Urban Splash and Places for People has delivered 455 homes, alongside student accommodation and commercial space. The regeneration has focused on building a diverse and inclusive community through a mix of housing, workspaces, public spaces and shared amenities. Great Places remains involved in Park Hill and is currently delivering 30 affordable homes as part of Phase 4. What Park Hill demonstrates is that, with the right vision and investment, historic buildings can be renewed and repurposed without the need to demolish them entirely. 

 Our Executive Director (Policy & External Relations), Patrick Murray said: 

 “On this tour we saw the power of community-led regeneration. But also, what struck me across both Gleadless Valley and Park Hill was the powerful original vision of the innovative architecture of the places and how, yes regeneration does sometimes mean replacing out-of-date buildings, but it also sometimes can mean careful re-use, creating great places and homes out of the assets that are already there and in doing so bringing new life into communities. 

It’s not easy, and Park Hill is at the end of that journey while Gleadless is just beginning but with the dogged determination of those involved it is possible. There’s no doubt we can make it all much, much easier to do though with the right policy framework.”
 

Earlier in the day, the South Yorkshire Housing Partnership meeting took place at South Yorkshire Housing Association’s head offices.  

Thank you to everyone who took part in the tour, the Renew Report can be downloaded here.

Our Renew Advisory Group met to review activity so far, including the launch of Unlocking over 500,000 good quality homes in the North, and what the project should prioritise to maintain momentum. 

Following the meeting, the group visited city centre brownfield developments on the South Bank in Leeds, which has been earmarked as a new town, and Sugarhill in Oulton where 70 prefabricated Airey homes have been replaced by 70 new homes. 

The first stop on the tour was Citu’s Climate Innovation District, which has transformed a central brownfield site in Leeds into a green neighbourhood with 516 low-energy homes, alongside new amenities.  There are no cars on the development, although underground parking is available.  This means Citu have been able to tear up the conventional suburban streetscape, with drives and fenced gardens, instead focusing on shared communal green spaces.  

The homes are manufactured at the Citu Factory on site and are made from timber and lower-carbon materials. They are much quicker to build than traditionally constructed homes, and they have a significantly lower carbon footprint. Yorkshire Housing is working closely with Citu, and has partnered on delivery of social rent homes on the development, meaning people on lower incomes can live in homes with much lower bills. Citu and Yorkshire Housing also share the UK’s first zero carbon office – the location for the advisory group meeting.  

Next up was Sugar Hill in Oulton, where we met John and Cindy Readman of the ‘Save our Homes’ group, who led a high profile campaign against a private landlord selling off the post-war Airey homes on the site. In 2022 Leeds Fedarated took on the development. They weren’t able to promise to save the homes, as they had already exceeded their intended lifespan. Leeds Federated proposed a development of 70 modern, sustainable homes with a mix of properties for social rent and shared ownership. They worked closely with residents, giving existing residents priority on the new homes, and rebuilding trust which the old landlord had broken. 

John and Cindy recently moved back into a new modern home and have been helping create a community on the estate, bringing together new and existing residents. The Save our Homes group didn’t save the Airey prefabs, but they were able to save the community, and make sure residents had better homes to live in.   

Leeds City Council’s Mark Mills   presented plans for their new Mayoral Development Zone, a partnership of Leeds City Council, West Yorkshire Combined Authorities and Homes England, which will see development of 20,000 new homes in Leeds. The group walked through the South Bank area. The area has already seen some redevelopment, but this should be accelerated though the new town programme. Lorna Hebden from Leeds City Council highlighted about viability challenges on brownfield sites and the need for public subsidiary. She also talked about the challenges of getting the right balance between commercial and residential properties.  

It was an informative day which will feed valuable lessons into Renew. Thank you to Nick Atkin and Yorkshire Housing for hosting and to Matthew Walker and Leeds Federated, and Leeds City Council for sharing their experiences.  

A Westminster Hall debate on estate regeneration was called by Luke Murphy, MP for Basingstoke. It triggered a lively discussion with broad consensus on the benefits of estate regeneration and the need to make sure it is done with residents rather than to them.  

Chair of our Renew Westminster Group, Andrew Cooper MP spoke as part of the debate referencing findings from the recent Renew report ‘Unlocking 500,000 good quality homes in the North’  

Northern Housing Consortium Chief Executive Tracy Harrison said:  

“Housing-led regeneration is central to tackling the housing crisis in the North, so we were pleased to see the Westminster Hall debate on estate regeneration. Andy Burnham MP is making regeneration a priority, so it is great to see the issue is gaining the political momentum it deserves. Regeneration is a key issue for the NHC, our members, and communities across the North.  

“Chair of our Renew Westminster Group, Andrew Cooper MP, referenced our Renew inquiry, supported by Homes for North and Muse, during the debate. Mr Cooper highlighted that without significant intervention, 100,000 social homes in the North could be lost over the coming decade. He also spoke about the far-reaching benefits of housing-led regeneration, and the need for regeneration to be delivered with communities.  

 “However, as Mr Cooper said, the challenge now is to turn ambition into delivery. Our Renew report shows that this cannot be done at the scale needed without support from Government to make estate regeneration in the North stack up. This includes long-term, devolved regeneration funding; a stronger national focus to enable local delivery, and support to build local capacity and expertise. Our policy recommendations are about ensuring that regeneration is viable and achievable across the North, which has diverse needs and challenges beyond our cities.” 

 “As was highlighted in the debate, the need to do regeneration with communities is also coming across strongly in the work of our inquiry. Our site visits are showing how crucial residents are in developing and delivering regeneration that makes a difference to people’s lives in communities across the North.” 

The NHC’s Renew inquiry into housing-led regeneration for northern growth is calling for greater Government support to boost supply of new homes in the North, kickstart economic growth and create thriving communities.  

Headline policy recommendations include:  

Long-term devolved regeneration funding  

• A £500m per year, 10-year Place Based Regeneration Fund for Mayoral Strategic Authorities. 
• Increase the term of the National Housing Delivery Fund to 10 years to unlock more sites with higher upfront costs. 

A national framework to enable local delivery:  

• A Minister for Regeneration to drive cross-government coordination. 

Build local capacity and expertise:  

• Create a National Centre for Regeneration, based in the North, to rebuild capacity across the sector and lead research and innovation. 

Build trust with residents:  

• Agree a set of standards and rights with residents involved in regeneration.

A link to Parliament TV coverage of the debate is here and the Hansard transcript is here.  

 Below is a transcript of the debate contribution from Andrew Cooper MP:  

 It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Dr Murrison. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Basingstoke (Luke Murphy) on securing this debate. I want to speak about the importance of housing-led regeneration. Done well, it transforms lives, rebuilds communities, unlocks economic growth and creates places where people want to live, work and raise families. Yet for many communities across the north, that aspiration remains out of reach. 

Too many families live in ageing homes that are expensive to maintain, difficult to modernise and increasingly unfit for today’s needs. In many neighbourhoods, outdated layouts and ageing infrastructure no longer meet the needs of the communities they serve. Without significant intervention, 100,000 social homes could be lost over the coming decade, further reducing the supply of affordable housing. It is against that backdrop that the interim findings of the Renew inquiry are so important—I declare my interest as chair of the Westminster group for the inquiry. 

Led by the Northern Housing Consortium, the inquiry highlights the vital role that regeneration can play in addressing housing needs, supporting economic development and strengthening communities across the north of England. The Renew report found that more than half a million good-quality homes could be unlocked through regeneration and renewal programmes, demonstrating the scale of the opportunity before us. The report highlights the transformative impact that regeneration can have on people and places. Beyond increasing housing supply, it offers an opportunity to create healthier, more sustainable communities, to reduce energy costs for residents, and to improve the overall quality of life in neighbourhoods that have experienced years of under-investment. 

Importantly, regeneration delivers benefits that extend far beyond housing alone. Investment in homes can help attract investment in infrastructure, town centres and local services. It creates jobs, supports skills development and gives communities greater confidence in their future.  

 The impact therefore reaches well beyond the development site itself, generating wider social value and helping to create vibrant, sustainable places. However, successful regeneration cannot simply be done to communities; it must be delivered with communities. Residents should be at the heart of regeneration plans, helping to shape the future of the places they call home. 

 A good example can be found in the Gleadless Valley regeneration project in Sheffield. Residents’ involvement has shaped the vision for the valley to include commercial and community space, improved parks, paths, and jobs and training for local residents. Lara Joyce, from the Gleadless Valley tenants and residents association, described the process as “making hope feel safe again”.  

That clearly demonstrates the importance of building trust with residents and ensuring local voices are heard throughout the process. 

What is particularly encouraging is the growing recognition that the success of regeneration should not be measured solely by the number of homes delivered. Its value can also be seen in a stronger local economy, improved wellbeing and a more resilient community. The challenge now is to turn that ambition into delivery. If we get regeneration right, we will not simply build more homes. We will rebuild neighbourhoods, revitalise businesses and restore pride in communities. That is why housing-led regeneration matters, and why it deserves our continued support. 

The Northern Housing Consortium (NHC) has today welcomed Andy Burnham’s focus on greater devolution of powers to places, and his statement that regeneration will be one of No10 North’s three priority areas. He stressed that everything starts with a good home, and the country needs to put that at the top of its priority list.

Andy Burnham’s call for greater devolution and a focus on housing and regeneration reflects recommendations made by the NHC’s current Renew inquiry into housing-led regeneration and how it can deliver growth, help tackle the housing crisis, and strengthen communities across the North.

Research published by the NHC through its inquiry earlier this month showed that housing-led regeneration can unlock at least 500,000 good-quality homes across the North. This includes more than 100,000 new homes in town and city centres, 320,000 homes on brownfield land and the renewal or replacement of 100,000 social homes in need of regeneration.

The Renew inquiry draws on evidence from organisations responsible for around one million of the North’s 1.4 million social homes and insights from more than 160 regeneration schemes.

Tracy Harrison, Chief Executive, NHC, said

“We welcome this renewed focus on regeneration and putting power back into the hands of people and places. In fact, it’s like he’s read our recent Renew Inquiry report and acted on it!

Giving the proposed No.10 North the power to focus on regeneration could be game changing for local communities. It’s great to see the importance of a good quality home as a foundation of a good life so clearly recognised. Our extensive research with housing providers in the North through the Renew Inquiry shows that housing-led regeneration is essential to increase the supply of new homes, attract private investment, and boost economic growth across our northern regions. It helps create great places to live, improves housing quality and residents’ health and wellbeing, generates jobs and skills opportunities, and promotes sustainability by providing greener, more energy-efficient homes that lower household bills.”

“The North’s towns and cities have different strengths, challenges and ambitions. People who know these places best are local leaders, working alongside residents, housing providers and businesses. More power must be devolved to them. It was great to hear the importance of collaboration to drive change, something that is happening across the North’s housing partnerships.”

These themes will be a key focus of the NHC’s Housing Partnerships Northern Conference on 2nd July in Leeds, which will bring together housing partnerships, Mayoral Strategic Authorities and key local stakeholders together to share learning and shape future policy.