UKREiiF | Homes England bosses on spending review, Reform, and BSA

Like pretty much everyone at UKREiiF this week, chief executive Eamonn Boylan and chair Pat Ritchie are eagerly anticipating the outcome of next month’s spending review, which will set out the parameters the agency has to work within and the mechanisms at its disposal to help the government towards its 1.5m homes target.

While they both refused to be drawn on how big a settlement they would like, the veteran civil servants agreed freedom to act in the least rigid way possible would be vital.

“Whatever we get I would want us to be able to deploy the resources that we’ve got in the most flexible way possible,” said Boylan, who was appointed to replace former chief exec Peter Denton last year.

“[This will] enable us to intervene on a place basis so we’re not talking to people about product lines…but actually talking about outcomes in a local place.”

Ritchie pointed to the public bodies review last year, which suggested that fewer more flexible funds would increase Homes England’s capabilities.

“That’s a pretty good blueprint for the sort of things that we want to be able to do,” she said. “But whatever comes out of the spending review, we will make it work.

“We’re both of us deliverers, and I think that’s really important.”

While the talk of June’s spending review and speculation about what it might deliver dominated discussion at UKREiiF – especially among local authority delegates – Boylan said the agency is not just sitting on its hands in the meantime.

“There is an assumption out there that somehow we’re doing nothing while waiting for the spending review,” he said.

“I can assure you that the teams are out there working around the clock to deliver the existing programs.”

It is hoped spending review will provide more certainty around government budgets and priorities but it is not the only important milestone the residential sector should be aware of.

Once the review is out of the way, Boylan and Ritchie plan to deliver a new affordable homes programme and a refreshed strategic plan by the end of summer.

Both grandees of local government, who have both had stints in senior roles at Homes England previously, have been appointed on an interim basis.

You would be hard pressed to find a more experienced duo to boost the nation’s housing output.

That being said, both Boylan and Ritchie have no control over two other issues troubling the industry at present: the Buidling Safety Act and the rise of Reform.

The gateway approval process for high-risk buildings, in some cases, is “unacceptably slow”, Boylan said.

“I’ve yet to meet a developer who believes that the regulatory regime around building safety and the regulations themselves are unreasonable. What they’re complaining about is the speed at which decisions are being taken.

“So the real issue, and this is outwith our remit, is something that government needs to resolve, and I know that there’s a lot of thought being given to how that program can be accelerated, how it can be streamlined.”

In terms of Reform, which swept to victory across the country at the local elections earlier this month, Ritchie said she hoped fundamental principles of placemaking would endure despite political upheaval.

“Both of us are ex local authority chief execs so we know not to get into political discussions about different political parties.

“All of what we do is about making a difference on the ground and creating sustainable communities on the ground. So I am not getting into the Reform question, but I think that principle of sustainable, decent places, is really important to people.”

Boylan was typically matter-of-fact about the situation.

“We just need to be pragmatic and understand what the implications are, area by area, because obviously the political landscape has changed considerably in recent weeks.

“We’re just going to have to find a way of navigating that. That’s what we’ve always done. There’s an additional player in the field.”