10 March 2000
The Northern Counties and North British housing associations, whose properties are mainly in the north of England, are both receiving substantially less to spend on capital schemes than this year, while the largest allocation is going to London & Quadrant Housing Trust.
Registered social landlords will spend a total of just under £750m on new homes in 2000/01. It is the first year that the Housing Corporation's approved development programme has been based on a system of regional housing statements rather than a strict housing needs formula.
Earlier this week, Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott signalled the end of the old-style 'predict and provide' approach to housing. Instead, the government wants a more flexible policy, conserving greenfield land by targeting brownfield sites and through greater housing density.
But the allocation changes only affect how money is divided among RSLs within each region, not the gross sums allocated across the country.
The precise reasons behind fluctuations in individual RSL allocations are difficult to identify. Northern Counties Housing Association is to receive £5.7m, compared with £10.2m this year. David Holland, director of development and regeneration, said it had fared worse in the Northwest, where it only gained about a quarter of its £10m bid. It had received its full £2m bid in the Northeast.
'We bid for a lot less than last year because we are concentrating on re-investment in our own stock,' he said.
North British Housing Association, the UK's largest RSL with more than 43,000 homes, is getting £21.9m, compared with £25.3m in 1999/2000.
Group director Colin Pattinson doubted whether the new allocations system had had much effect. 'We made a substantially lower but more focused bid. It's what we asked for which made the difference,' he said.
London & Quadrant, which has about 21,500 homes in London and the Southeast, saw its allocation rise from £19.1m to £26.6m. Nineteen of the largest 25 allocations for 2000/01 are going to London-based RSLs.
National Housing Federation assistant chief executive James Tickell said: 'There is a feeling in parts of the north that the government has not got the balance right between economic regeneration and demand.'
PFmar2000
