New ways of dealing with unpopular housing need to be worked up, according to Mavis McDonald, permanent secretary at the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.
Both the government and the housing sector need to understand the issues better in order to develop practical solutions, she explained.
She was concerned the government may not meet its decent homes target following the rejection of stock transfer in Birmingham.
But she added that "a lot" of councils would find the cost of extra borrowing powers in last week's draft local government bill "too much too bear".
Private target
Dilapidated private housing should be subject to a decent homes target, according to the CIH's private sector group.
Soaring house prices mask the fact that many owner-occupiers live in poor housing – there are around 520,000 private homes in areas blighted by low demand, the group said.
Knowledge sharing
The CIH used its conference to launch a "leadership programme" to share best practice on stock transfers, and an online information and advice service for social landlords seeking legal advice.
No Tory policies yet
The sector will have to wait at least a year and a half for the Conservative Party to unveil its definitive housing policy, shadow housing spokesman Eric Pickles MP told the conference.
"It would be absurd for the Conservative Party to say something radical about housing one year after a heavy [election] defeat," he said before his speech to delegates. "We will have something to say in about 18 months' time."
Thumbs-down on services
Nearly two thirds of conference delegates felt the government is failing to deliver on public services.
An interactive session at the Harrogate conference found 64% of the delegates, who were predominantly housing professionals, held this view.
Northern Ireland
The Northern Ireland Executive is not set to take control of the Northern Ireland Housing Executive, as reported in Housing Today last week.
Instead, it is looking to coordinate and encourage a range of agencies to work together on community issues, aided by a £200m funding boost to cover a raft of areas including social housing.
Landlords 'lack skills'
Social landlords lack the skills needed for successful regeneration projects, Communities Scotland chief executive Bob Millar told delegates.
This was because there was not enough public money available to create sustainable neighbourhoods, he said.
But the sector could raise capital by capturing land and partnering with property developers. The value of the land would increase over time and the developers would ensure a mix of tenures, Millar explained.
Source
Housing Today
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