The director of the North Staffordshire housing market renewal pathfinder has clashed with the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors over a report questioning the progress of the nine pathfinder projects.
Brendan Nevin, who is also one of the renewal policy's authors, said the RICS report was "unhelpful" and under-researched.

Housing Market Renewal: Making the Pathfinders Succeed, published on Wednesday, said the pathfinders had so far failed to align their strategies with regional housing, planning and economic policies, and to bring private developers on board.

It also found that compensation packages for residents forced to move by clearance policies were inadequate, and that "renewed" housing markets were ill-defined.

Nevin said: "It really doesn't look like there's wide-ranging research backing up these conclusions.

"It doesn't help the debate to criticise the programme before it's started."

He went on: "The pathfinders can't decide on the policy frameworks in which they operate – development agencies, housing boards and planning boards have to take some responsibility for taking on board pathfinder priorities."

Source

Housing Today