Tuesday 13th March 2012, Guoman Charing Cross Hotel, 08:45 - 16:00

A New Housing Strategy for England: Choice, Flexibility and Affordable Housing

BOOK TODAY and secure your place.

Overview

Housing provides a secure foundation for individuals to live the lives they want to live. As house prices rise and opportunities for ownership decline, the social housing system has been placed under immense pressure, housing 8 million people with nearly 1.8 million households on social housing waiting lists in the UK. New forms of investment and housing are now vital to ensure housing is available, affordable and accessible to all.

In November 2011 the government released its new housing strategy, ‘Laying the Foundations for England: A Housing Strategy for England,’ to reignite the housing market and support choice and quality for all tenants. The housing strategy outlines plans to improve social housing through investing £4.5billion in new affordable housing. Housing Minister Grant Shapps recently identified enough government land to build 80,000 homes, meaning Ministers are on course to release enough land for 100,000 homes by 2015, and he will continue to encourage housing associations and for-profit-providers to enter the affordable homes market (February 2012).

The recent passage of the Localism Act (November 2011) will mean that more decisions about housing are taken locally. The housing strategy introduced plans to replace the current Housing Revenue Account (HRA) subsidy system with a devolved self-financing model allowing local councils to keep rental income from the 1.7million homes they own. In February 2012 Mr Shapps announced that he will end the long-standing "tax on tenants" in a £19 billion deal enabling councils to keep the rents they collect and invest the money in their homes. Councils will now get the flexibility to better manage their housing stock by adapting to meet local needs, this includes setting criteria for social housing that will help tackle various forms of tenancy abuse.

New housing reforms will encourage ownership through re-invigorating Right to Buy schemes and the NewBuy Guarantee scheme scheduled to be launched in March 2012 increasing opportunities for tenants to purchase their homes and move on to the property ladder. Flexibility will be a priority as social landlords are permitted to grant tenancies for fixed lengths rather than lifetime giving tenants more opportunities to move. The government has committed £19 million over the next four years to help Local authorities recover unlawfully occupied properties in England, prioritising fairness to ensure that support is given to those who need it.

Agenda

This forum will offer delegates the opportunity to hear from policy makers and leading social housing experts about the implications of the new government housing policy. Throughout the day delegates will also network with other decision makers, practitioners and social housing stakeholders, debating and discussing the future of social housing, learning from best practice case studies and exchanging ideas and knowledge.

08:45	Registration and Coffee
09:30	Morning Chair’s Welcome Address Professor David Mullins, Professor of Housing Policy, University of Birmingham (CONFIRMED)
09:35	Opening Keynote: A Housing Strategy for the Future Summarising the government's new Housing Strategy Reforming social housing to improve fairness The private rented sector Supporting home ownership - Right to Buy and new build indemnity scheme Plans to get Britain building Sue Lovelock, Senior Policy Advisor, Housing Strategy and Coordination, Department for Communities and Local Government (CONFIRMED)
09:55	Special Keynote: Improving Access to Social and Affordable Housing The government's housing strategy Review of the package of government policy for affordable and social housing Consequences and opportunities of the Localism Act Financing social housing Affordable housing: new opportunities or constraints? Consequences of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) Andrew George MP Vice Chair, All-Party Parliamentary Housing and Planning Group (CONFIRMED)
10:15	Improving the Affordability of Social Housing Introducing the new affordable homes programme: exceeding expectations to deliver new homes for affordable rent and affordable home ownership Supporting affordable housing providers to develop new affordable homes Making use of existing housing stock to reduce costs Reinvigorating the right to buy programme- encouraging tenants to purchase homes Improving the affordability of home ownership: Accessing the first buy equity loan scheme and the affordable rent initiative How will the devolved self-financing model improve the affordability of social housing? The new regulatory framework and the role of the Homes and Communities Agency in providing value for money Steve Howlett, Chief Executive, Peabody (CONFIRMED)
10:35	Questions and Answers Session
10:55	Coffee and Networking
11:15	Tackling Worklessness and Increasing Opportunities for Social Mobility Breaking the link between worklessness and social housing: encouraging tenants to generate income Providing full support for those in social housing: helping people meet special requirements Supporting the development of sustainable communities and local economies Tackling tenancy abuse Accessing HomeSwap Direct as a tool to help social housing tenants move Abigail Davies, Assistant Director of Policy and Practice, Chartered Institute of Housing (CONFIRMED)
11:35	Utilising Empty Homes Maximising the potential of existing housing stock What role can empty homes play to meet the housing strategy? Dealing pro-actively with empty properties -how this compliments the enforcement role of the LA Looking to the future Darryl Lawrence, Director, Empty Property Solutions, Rochdale Housing Initiative & Chair, Empty Homes Network (CONFIRMED)
11:55	Case Study: Providing Environmentally Sustainable Homes for the Next Generation Building sustainable family homes in Northampton: Brookside Meadows Improving the energy efficiency of social housing Local Authorities, housing associations and their role in delivering affordable social housing Focussing on strategies for the long term: building homes that last Placing environmental responsibility on the social housing agenda Embedding green design into new builds Lesley Wearing, Director of Housing, Northampton Borough Council (CONFIRMED)
12:15	Questions and Answers Session
12:30	Lunch and Networking
13:30	Case Study: Transferring Powers to Local Decision Makers: Moving Forward with the Localism Act The benefits of locally managing housing stock The advantages of local decision makers: being better informed to meet local needs Investing in the local community and local economy Implementing the self-financing model: Receiving rental income at the local level Responsible redistribution of social housing income Setting local criteria for tenancy: creating a more flexible system Gerri Scott, Strategic Director of Housing Services, Southwark Council (CONFIRMED)
13:50	Reforming Social Housing Finance Supporting the transfer of financial control to local councils Effective governance and leadership in the new financial model A long term approach to asset management Ensuring transparency, accountability and fairness in social housing finance Utilising the private sector and housing associations: finding the cost-effective options Reducing costs of social housing whilst improving standards for tenants Peter Ruback, Deputy Director, Local Authority Housing Finance and Decent Homes, Department for Communities and Local Government (CONFIRMED)
14:10	Questions and Answers Session
14:30	Coffee and Networking
14:50	The Future of the Housing Ombudsman: Implementing Provisions in the Localism Act How will the Housing Ombudsman’s role change from April 2013? How will the new law affect providers of social housing in the future? How will tenants and leaseholders be affected? What will the Housing Ombudsman’s offer to the social housing sector? What will be the impact on the Housing Ombudsman Service? Dr Mike Biles, Housing Ombudsman, Housing Ombudsman Service (CONFIRMED)
15:10	Effective Planning for The Future of Social Housing: Working With a Revised Planning System Implementing planning reforms: the impact of the Localism Act How will the commitment to localised planning deliver new affordable homes that meet the needs of communities? Working with providers and developers locally for local needs How can the new planning system help reinvigorate local economies? Successfully planning for and delivering local facilities and infrastructure Opportunities for future improvements: planning for the long term Nicky Linihan, Convenor of the Planning Officers Society Housing, Regeneration and Economic Development Topic Forum, Planning Officers Society (CONFIRMED)
15:30	Questions and Answers Session
15:50	Chair's Summary
16:00	Close

*programme subject to change without notice

Audience

Delegates will be drawn from local authorities and central government including heads of housing, heads of housing needs, housing solutions managers, heads of family services and social care, and housing and community directors. Delegates will also include directors of housing associations, heads of community groups, members of housing charities and advice services, leaders in the energy and construction industry, and all those with an interest in the housing agenda.

STePS Search a unique pan Government search and retrieval tool: