Title

BUSINESS

Homes England launches tookit to help councils

Homes England has launched a toolkit designed to help councils identify shortfalls in their housing capacity amid a review of the regeneration agency.

Homes England has launched a toolkit designed to help councils identify shortfalls in their housing capacity amid a review of the regeneration agency.

The capacity analysis tool is a downloadable kit designed to help housing teams identify their full range of delivery and regeneration skills – and signpost town halls and their partners to areas that could be improved.

Alongside the toolkit, Homes England has published 10 factsheets to help councils improve how they communicate with communities about housing needs and issues.

The new tools have been released amid a Government-led review of Homes England, which has £16bn of capital spend to deploy over the next five years but has been criticised for failing to help meet housing targets in recent years.

A review team - led by former PwC executive Tony Poulter - is assessing the efficacy, efficiency, governance and accountability arrangements at Homes England and is due to report back next year.

Homes England has described the review as a ‘standard' assessment, but one senior council officer said: ‘We would rather see Homes England dead and its powers and massive funding handed to housing authorities to decide how to use. It would cut out the bureaucracy and overheads.'

A local authority housing expert added: ‘Don't be surprised to see further reforms across the agency.'

BUSINESS

Will devolution deliver on health and growth?

By Mariah Kelly | 12 September 2025

The Government must use the English Devolution Bill to set the framework required for Strategic Authorities to fulfil their role in improving the nation’s he...

BUSINESS

Future Forum Midlands: 'Conceptual chance' of meeting housing targets

By Ann McGauran | 12 September 2025

The Government’s new housing targets ‘are a better balance across the country’ with ‘a conceptual possibility’ they can be met, Birmingham City Council’s hou...

BUSINESS

Fair Funding Review 2.0 and the road to reorganisation

By Tracy Bingham | 10 September 2025

Councils will have to grapple with risks, resilience and reform as they balance the fallout from fair funding with the challenge of reorganisation, writes Tr...

BUSINESS

Rethinking long-term community investment

By Nick Kemp | 10 September 2025

As the UK Shared Prosperity Fund ends and the Growth Mission Fund and trailblazer neighbourhoods emerge, Nick Kemp explores how councils can embrace adaptive...

Popular articles by Mark Conrad