A new paper from the Audit Commission finds that councils feel pressured into focusing on building brand new housing. ‘Building better lives – Getting the best from strategic housing’, says 94 per cent of councils have prioritised new and/or affordable housing targets through their local area agreements, but fewer than a third prioritised targets relating to their existing housing stock. This is despite the financial savings, environmental improvements and social benefits of doing so.
The report notes that if councils thought of housing more broadly, they could do more to combat poverty, ill-health, educational under-achievement and help strengthen their local communities. The recession makes a strategic view of housing all the more important.
The report is supported by a range of materials including:
– an animated presentation to raise the profile of strategic housing in councils (coming soon);
– case studies
http://www.audit-commission.gov.uk/nationalstudies/localgov/buildingbetterlives/
pages/casestudies.aspx;
– a decision making guide to help members and senior officers (based around relevance, quality and presentation) consider whether they have all of the information they need to take decisions around strategic housing
http://www.audit-commission.gov.uk/SiteCollectionDocuments/AuditCommission
Reports/NationalStudies/betterlivesdecisionmaking.pdf;
and
– tailored briefing sheets.
http://www.audit-commission.gov.uk/nationalstudies/localgov/buildingbetterlives/
Pages/buildingbetterlives.aspx
