Our big chance to fix ailing housing markets for good

• housing markets transcend local authority boundaries
  
• we are concerned about housing in general, not just particular tenures
  
• there is a central link between housing markets and the economy of sub-regions.

While it is always necessary to start somewhere – and tackling the failing housing markets of the North and Midlands seems an obvious place – it would be a missed opportunity to focus simply on intervention where markets are failing due to low demand and falling values. Markets also fail when they are outwardly successful, but do not allow those who are economically inactive or on low wages to access decent housing opportunities.

A failing housing market is one that, unaided, is unable to provide the right supply of housing, in the right tenure, at the right price and in the right place. Many housing markets in London and the South-east are, therefore, failing. We have as much moral responsibility to intervene in these markets as we have in the failing markets of the North.

The same approach to market analysis should be applied to London and Edinburgh as to Merseyside and Lancashire. However, whereas analysis and desired outcomes may be similar, the tools and possible solutions could be dramatically different.

To respond to this complex and rapidly changing agenda, housing organisations need to evolve. We have to develop the capacity to analyse local and sub-regional housing markets and design new tools to intervene, working closely with a range of partners. Masterplanning skills will be central to establishing strategies that involve, and secure the support of, local communities.

New approaches to land acquisition are necessary for masterplans to be delivered in a coherent way over long periods. Some housing associations could contribute to the creation of community land trusts. These would assemble strategic sites and work with local authorities and developers to deliver mixed-tenure communities with the requisite economic and social infrastructure.

In areas of high and low demand, there is a clear need to capture increasing land and property values that often follow successful market intervention. That value could then be directed back to the local community to fund local facilities and set high standards.

A failing housing market is one that, unaided, is unable to provide the right supply of housing, in the right tenure, at the right price and in the right place

We need to examine the use of existing grant regimes to ensure they are used to the greatest effect. In some areas, grants should be made available in stages to aid land acquisition by community land trusts. In appropriate cases, land banking should be made available so land is acquired before the effects of market intervention – not half way through, when values have increased. This is important in areas of high demand, where land values may already be high and rising.

We must also develop tools to tackle poor-quality owner-occupied properties, fund and manage demolition where required, and create community regeneration approaches to tackle financial exclusion.

Fundamentally, the challenge will be for us to develop approaches across many tenures in high- and low-demand areas. Market renting, key-worker housing, outright sale and forms of subsidised home ownership will increasingly form part of our portfolio as we boost our relevance in local housing markets.

We may be on the verge of establishing processes for analysing and tackling failing housing markets, which could put housing back on the political map for the long term. But there is a cautionary note – to see housing market intervention simply as a housing tool risks our new-found influence.

Housing markets can fail because of antisocial behaviour, poor employment opportunities and inflexible planning policy, just as much as they can because of an inadequate supply of homes or the poor condition of existing property.