HOUSING AND REGENERATION BILL

The purpose of the bill is to:

• Support delivery of housing supply through the creation of a new homes agency;
• Reform social housing regulation to put tenants at the heart of social housing, increase choice and drive up standards.
• Reform social housing to ensure that it is a modern and flexible public service;

The main benefits of the bill are:

• By bringing together land and housing, and shifting from simply grant funding social housing to investing in infrastructure, the new agency will support the regeneration and delivery of new social and affordable housing, both social and private;
• The new agency will also make better use of surplus public sector land and maximise the potential for brownfield development;
• The Bill will also provide an opportunity to modernise powers on establishing new settlements like eco-towns, and simplify the ways in which the new agency would be able to facilitate delivery of these projects;
• It will reform regulation of social housing, making it more proportionate and effective, whilst ensuring continued provision of high quality social housing and empowering and protecting tenants;

The main elements of the bill are:

• Establishment of a new homes agency;
• Implementation of the recommendations of the Cave Review of Social Housing Regulation, published in June 2007;
• Implementation of policies responding to John Hills' Assessment of Social Housing, published in February 07.
• Implementation of an ECHR ruling on Gypsies and Travellers.

The Bill would apply to:

• England and Wales. The Government will work closely with the Devolved Administrations on the responsibilities they have in this area.

Related Documents:

• A consultation document has been launched on the new homes agency and the Government's response to the Cave Review of social housing regulation.
• A consultation document on Tenant Empowerment has been launched and can be found at http://communities.gov.uk/index.asp?id=1511393;
• The Hills Review of Social Housing can be found at http://sticerd.lse.ac.uk/case/news.asp#SocialHousing;
• The Cave Review of Social Housing Regulation can be found at http://communities.gov.uk/index.asp?id=1511391. 

Existing Legislation in this area is:

• The Leasehold Reform Act 1967
• Caravan Sites Act 1968
• The New Towns Act 1981
• Mobile Homes Act 1983
• Building Act 1984
• Housing Associations Act 1985
• Housing Act 1985
• Housing Act 1988
• Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993
• Housing Act 1996
• Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996
  Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002

Comments:

If you have any comments on the draft programme or individual bill being proposed, you can email them to:

legislation@commonsleader.x.gsi.gov.uk