黑洞社区

Communities England, the government鈥檚 new housing and regeneration superagency, is to abandon the practice of English Partnerships (EP) of buying land.

黑洞社区 has learned that Communities England will instead focus on helping landowners bring 鈥渄ifficult鈥� sites to market.

The agency is to be formed from EP and the Housing Corporation and is due to be commence operations in 2009.

Trevor Beattie, EP鈥檚 southern director and one of the nine-strong 鈥渢ransitional committee鈥� charged with designating what powers the agency will have, said: 鈥淲e have in the past bought sites, such as the 96 NHS Estates properties, but there鈥檚 no real reason why we couldn鈥檛 simply work with landowners to masterplan and remediate sites as well as taking care of all the legal requirements. Both parties could then share in the uplift in value.鈥�

It is hoped that this approach will allow Communities England to concentrate on bringing land forward for development 鈥� particularly public sector land.

EP鈥檚 decision was welcomed by housebuilder Wilson Bowden which had protested bitterly at the regeneration agency鈥檚 purchase of a 44ha former RAF site in Bracknell in 2004.

Ian Robertson, chief executive of Wilson Bowden, which is being bought by Barratt, said: 鈥淭his removes the element of confusion that existed as a result of EP operating in the market and buying sites that the private sector felt it could develop itself.鈥�

Beattie also revealed that Communities England will require all the homes it funds with its 拢4bn annual budget to meet the six-star level set out in the recent Code for Sustainable Homes by 2013 鈥� three years ahead of the timetable mooted by communities secretary Ruth Kelly.