Elected regional assemblies will have no obligation to produce regional housing strategies under proposals in the draft Regional Assemblies Bill.

The draft, published last Thursday, says the bodies will “not be required to prepare a housing strategy document, but would be able to decide how best to integrate their housing policy and any strategy into other regional delivery mechanisms.”

The Chartered Institute of Housing is concerned that, without clear housing strategies, assemblies will run the risk of making poorly informed decisions.

The CIH also fears such a change could undermine the regional approach to tackling housing problems – an approach that saw regional housing boards set up across the country last year.

CIH president Ian Richardson said: “We must ensure the good work of the housing boards is retained.”

At the same time, the government announced it had dropped plans for referendums on assemblies in the North-west and Yorkshire and Humberside.

It also confirmed that the Housing Corporation would lose some of its investment role if a regional assembly went ahead.

Source

Housing Today