8
Recommendation
Twenty-Ninth Report - The Affordable Ho…
Accepted in Part
The Department specifies the overall number of homes (not just affordable homes) that local authorities should build each year, through a calculation known as the ‘standard method’. Local authorities must follow this unless they have exceptional circumstances, and face penalties under the Housing Delivery Test, if they do not deliver …
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The Department specifies the overall number of homes (not just affordable homes) that local authorities should build each year, through a calculation known as the ‘standard method’. Local authorities must follow this unless they have exceptional circumstances, and face penalties under the Housing Delivery Test, if they do not deliver against their target.17 The National Audit Office found there is not a strong match between areas of high housing need and where housing providers build under the Programme.18 Shelter raised concerns there is no objective measure of demand for housing, outside of the total number of new homes delivered across England.19
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Government response AI summary
The government will consider additional ways to work with Local Authorities to match delivery with local need, while highlighting existing mechanisms in place.
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HM Treasury
9
Recommendation
Twenty-Ninth Report - The Affordable Ho…
Accepted in Part
We challenged the Department about whether housing providers build homes where they are needed most. The Department does not allocate funding from the Programme based on its calculation of local housing need.20 Under strategic bidding, housing providers only state the region, not the local authority, in which they intend to …
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We challenged the Department about whether housing providers build homes where they are needed most. The Department does not allocate funding from the Programme based on its calculation of local housing need.20 Under strategic bidding, housing providers only state the region, not the local authority, in which they intend to build.21 The Department told us that local authorities state what mix of housing they would like when developing their local plans, and that housing providers follow these.22 The Department relies on housing providers to interact with local planning authorities and build homes where needed most, while ensuring value for money.23 We pushed the Department, noting that local authorities must meet overall targets for new homes, so are pressured to approve new homes, even if they do not meet the most pressing local need. The Department acknowledged that local authorities have to consider a trade-off between meeting local housing need, expressed by the total number of homes built, and their type.24
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Government response AI summary
The government agrees to consider additional ways to work with Local Authorities to match housing delivery with local need, including exploring giving greater control over the 2021 programme to the Greater Manchester Combined Authority and the West Midlands Combined Authority, and seeking to improve benefit …
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HM Treasury
19
Recommendation
Twenty-Ninth Report - The Affordable Ho…
Accepted in Part
The Department told us that it could have set higher standards from the outset for net- zero, but that doing so would likely reduce the number of homes delivered. We challenged the Department on this assertion, because it had not modelled the extent to which it might have been reduced. …
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The Department told us that it could have set higher standards from the outset for net- zero, but that doing so would likely reduce the number of homes delivered. We challenged the Department on this assertion, because it had not modelled the extent to which it might have been reduced. The Department replied that it ‘was probably not exactly where it wanted to be,’ at the end of the 2021 programme but will be better in the future.49
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Government response AI summary
The government will explore the cost and deliverability of additional net zero requirements for a successor programme, while noting existing steps taken in the 2021 programme.
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HM Treasury