Housing experts say 拢140m pledged for plans to regenerate 100 of the UK鈥檚 most deprived estates is not enough
Housing experts have raised serious questions about plans announced this week by prime minister David Cameron to regenerate and redevelop 100 of the UK鈥檚 most deprived housing estates.
On Sunday Cameron said he had set up a 拢140m fund and drafted in former deputy prime minister Michael Heseltine to chair an estate regeneration advisory panel designed to look at at how to 鈥渏ump start鈥� programmes to remove the UK鈥檚 worst estates and replace them with 鈥渟afe and attractive鈥� homes.
In the statement announcing the policy, Cameron said the government would work with 100 estates, and added the initiative was 鈥減art of a comprehensive package of measures to end poverty鈥�.
However, housing experts, while welcoming the focus on regeneration, said the funding, which works out as just 拢1.4m per estate, would patently not be enough to address the problem.
Former Housing Corporation chief executive Steve Douglas, now chief executive of consultant Altair, welcomed the fact regeneration was 鈥渂ack on the agenda鈥�, but added: 鈥淵ou look at the numbers and they need an extra zero on the end of them to be taken seriously. There is a danger of this raising unrealistic expectations.
鈥淓verything we鈥檝e learned about estate regeneration suggests these schemes need up-front pump priming to work.鈥�
The announcement comes five years after chancellor George Osborne effectively ended dedicated funding for regeneration schemes in the 2010 Comprehensive Spending Review.
The government鈥檚 announcement said the scheme was modelled on the regeneration of two housing estates, Woodberry Down and the Packington, both in north London. However, the Woodberry Down scheme, carried out in partnership with housebuilder Berkeley, only went ahead after receiving almost 拢60m under Labour鈥檚 Kick Start scheme.
Richard Parker, partner at consultant PwC, said that unless a lot of work was done developing new financial models, the money would be spent 鈥渧ery quickly on very little鈥�.
鈥淲ith estate regeneration you have the cost of dealing with the liability - demolition, compensation, local authority debt. There are a lot of liabilities before you even begin.鈥�
The plan came after the shock news that the chief executive of the Homes and Communities Agency, Andy Rose, is to leave the organisation for a job in infrastructure development
Government sources maintained the 拢140m announced was in addition to 拢150m already announced for existing estate redevelopment schemes. Heseltine鈥檚 advisory panel is understood to be meeting with communities, local councils, investors and housing associations to consider how estates can bid to access the new funds.
Cameron said existing tenants would be 鈥減rotected鈥� during regeneration work.
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