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Page 1: Better Homes - Kent · Better Homes: localism, aspiration and choice 2012 - 2015 A Housing Strategy for Kent and Medway

Better Homes:localism, aspiration and choice

2012 - 2015 A Housing Strategy for Kent and Medway

Page 2: Better Homes - Kent · Better Homes: localism, aspiration and choice 2012 - 2015 A Housing Strategy for Kent and Medway

A Housing Strategy for Kent and Medway

Better Homes: localism, aspiration and choice

Page 3: Better Homes - Kent · Better Homes: localism, aspiration and choice 2012 - 2015 A Housing Strategy for Kent and Medway

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Better Homes:localism, aspiration and choice

Foreword 2

Executive Summary 3

Introduction 10

Setting the Scene 13

Theme 1: Managed Growth and Infrastructure 18

Theme 2: Place-making and Regeneration 33

Theme 3: Affordability and Choice 42

Theme 4: Housing Renewal 58

Theme 5: Housing Need 65

Kent and Medway Strategic Housing Market Assessment 76

Implementation 86

Method Statement 87

Glossary 88

Contents

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Better Homes:localism, aspiration and choice

Paul CarterLeader of Kent County CouncilChair of Kent Forum

ForewordAhead of the game.

We launched our County-wide Housing Strategy, the first of its kind inthe country, in May 2011 to wide acclaim. Since then, great changes haveoccurred in the housing landscape, both nationally and locally, and wehave updated our Strategy to ensure that we are doing all within ourpower to tackle the housing issues that matter to Kent people today.

Good, decent homes are the springboard for stable family life. Theyunderpin economic growth and create the great communities that givethe county of Kent, including Medway, its unique character.

For many, getting on to the housing ladder is proving to be tough.Demand outstrips supply. Affordability in rent levels and affordability tobuy further complicated by the availability of mortgage financing ispatchy and the quality of housing varies hugely from one part of theCounty to another.

For the young, the difficulties of not being able to ‘stay local’ can disruptthe traditional family networks upon which strong communities arebased.

For families, uncertainty over housing can undermine the contributionthey make to our economy through work and active communities.

For older people, the demand for suitable homes that meet theirchanging and challenging needs is growing.

Kent and Medway believe in supporting our local communities first.

There are significant national - and international - pressures on housingbut we believe our task is to focus on local need and local availability.

Our priorities are based on making Kent better for Kent people. ThisStrategy is about providing local people with housing choice andsupporting their aspirations.

By working together, the Kent Forum of local authority leaders want toensure that our housing is fit for the future, delivers for Kentfamiliesand keeps our economy moving.

We’re not waiting around. We’re getting on with the job ofmeeting these challenges now to keep Kent ahead of thegame.

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1. Context

The County of Kent offers the South East’s greatest opportunity foreconomic growth and private-sector led recovery.

Kent is open for business and is not waiting around for government todecide what our growth should be. Local housing and planningauthorities are already re-considering their housing growth ambitions inlight of the forthcoming abolition of Regional Spatial Strategies and theintroduction of the new National Planning Policy Framework. Theremoval of centrally-imposed targets has given these authorities thefreedom to determine, at a local level, the growth required to meetlocal need and aspiration.

Authorities in Kent and Medway and the Homes and CommunitiesAgency are committed to ensuring the delivery of managed growth, tosupport economic recovery in Kent and the wider South East.

Executive SummaryThe coalition government has radically altered the public funding regimefor housing, severely reducing the amount of public subsidy available. Ina world of diminishing resources, the public and private sectors willneed to work together creatively and innovatively to bring strands ofresource together to deliver homes across Kent and Medway.

Alongside these growth challenges are the potential impacts of welfarereform on Kent’s most vulnerable residents and the unintendedconsequences these could have for local housing markets within theCounty.

2. The challenges

There are a number of key housing challenges facing Kent and Medwaythat must be tackled:

1. The need to secure the delivery of new homes

2. The imperative to achieve regeneration of key sites across the County and support economic growth

3. The need for renewal of existing homes and the return to use of empty homes

4. The challenge and opportunity of improving the energy efficiency of existing homes

5. The need to consider the impact of welfare reform and the needs of vulnerable groups and the support services they require

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3. Our ambitions

In response to these challenges, we have identified a number of keyambitions that we want to deliver across Kent and Medway.

These are:

4. Our approach

To deliver our ambitions in the current and future climate, there aresignificant barriers that will need to be overcome.

The public, private and third sectors will need to work together tocreate an environment in which new housing growth can be delivered.At the same time, vulnerable people and disadvantaged communitiesmust continue to be supported.

We will achieve this by:

1. The continued delivery of key infrastructure to support managed growth and housing delivery across the County.

2. The continued regeneration of our disadvantagedneighbourhoods to bring them in line with more affluent parts of the County.

3. The provision of choice and affordability in housing for the citizens of Kent and Medway, including rural communities, whichmeets their needs and aspirations.

4. The managed improvement and retrofit of existing homes to make them fit for now and the future.

5. To support vulnerable people in housing need to fulfil their potential and live a high quality life through the provision of excellent housing and support services.

1. Setting out the managed housing growth and infrastructureambition for Kent and Medway.

2. Working creatively and innovatively to secure the investmentneeded to unlock sites for housing delivery.

3. Using publicly-owned land and other assets to drive housing delivery and economic growth.

4. Working with government to reform the existing regulatory framework and remove barriers to development.

5. Developing new and innovative approaches to regeneratehousing in our most disadvantaged communities.

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5. Our progress

The first Kent Forum Housing Strategy was launched in May 2011 by SirBob Kerslake, who described Kent as being “ahead of the game”.

Following this, under the guidance of Kent Housing Group, public,private and third sector organisations with an interest in housing havecome together to progress the Strategy’s recommendations, including:

1 Developing the Rural Housing Protocol to enable better delivery of rural local needs affordable homes;

1 Agreeing the Local Housing Methodology to inform local planning authorities across Kent and Medway of their choice of dwelling numbers;

1 Piloting a tenant education training programme to help vulnerable tenants entering the private rented sector secure and sustain their tenancies;

1 Securing government and further Kent County Council investment in the No Use Empty campaign; and

1 Undertaking in-depth research and analysis of the current and future housing needs and aspirations of older people in Kent and Medway, to help housing providers plan for future demand.

Since the launch of the Strategy in May 2011, the coalition governmenthave announced a raft of new measures, which will have a significantimpact on housing in Kent and Medway including the new AffordableHomes Programme, welfare reform, changes to the planning regime andvarious fiscal incentives to stimulate development.

As a result, there now exists an opportunity for Kent to stay ahead ofthe game and develop a coherent County-wide position on these newstrategic housing issues and to seek to influence government as theyfurther develop their thinking on housing.

6. Our asks of government

The Strategy has achieved notable success in influencing governmentthinking and helping to shape the new housing agenda. The Strategycontained eight “asks of government”, which set out what Kent andMedway required of government to deliver to help support localgrowth ambitions. Seven of these have made their way into governmentpolicy, as highlighted in Figure 1 overleaf.

The final ask was on the issue of benefit reform, where we, through thisStrategy and the Kent Forum Ambition Board 2, will continue to seek toinfluence government to ensure that Kent and Medway do not sufferdisproportionately as a result of changes to welfare benefits.

KENT FORUM LOGO

Better Homes: D

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WE ASKED GOVERNMENT HAVE

Simplify the regulatory framework for development, to help getgrowth in Kent moving again

- Revised the Zero Carbon standard to halve the cost of building a zero carbon home - Launched the Red Tape Challenge for housing, planning and construction in January 2012, to help to eliminate unnecessary regulation that hinders growth

Support and enable the delivery of the proposals withinGrowth without Gridlock: A Transport Delivery Plan for Kent,to help deliver major regeneration across Kent

- Announced during the November Budget Statement government support for the building of a Lower Thames Crossing between Kent and Essex, a key ask within Growth without Gridlock

Incentivise public agencies to make public sector land availablefor development purposes, providing local authorities with theflexibility to share more of the risk in order to reap betterrewards upon completion

- Announced in the English Housing Strategy that they are looking in further detail at how to unlock surplus public sector sites, using the Build Now, Pay Later model

- Announced that land auctions will be encouraged where the public body shares the sale proceeds with the local authority

- Announced an independent review into barriers to institutional investment in the private rented sector

Support people’s aspirations for home ownership by offeringvariants on shared ownership models and finding new ways offinancing a wider range of innovative mortgage products

- Launched FirstBuy, a shared equity low cost home ownership product- Launched NewBuy, a mortgage indemnity product to help First Time Buyers to buy newbuild homes

- Increased the amount of discount available under the Right to Buy to £75K

Encourage investors to invest in the private rented sector inthe same way they currently do for other property assetclasses

- Announced in the English Housing Strategy the intention to pilot public sector involvement in Build to Rent, whereby public sector land is put in as an equity investment with a deferred receipt and the construction is funded by institutional investment

- Included investment in the private rented sector as one of the strands of the Get Britain Building Fund

Give local authorities more powers to be able to use localproducts that respond to local requirements, flex rents andmake greater use of intermediate tenures

- Introduced the new Affordable Rent Framework, which enables housing providers to make better use of intermediate tenure products up to 80% of market rent and to set shorter more flexible tenancies

Support the funding of retrofit and the development of widersolutions to improve existing homes

- Launched the Green Deal, which will enable the energy efficiency of existing homes to be improved

Figure 1 - Original Strategy’s “Asks of Government” and how they have been delivered.

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To deliver our ambitions we continue to need government to play itspart.

We therefore ask them to:

1. Ensure that Kent and Medway do not suffer a disproportionate rise in new housing benefit claimants as an unintended consequence of welfare reform

2. Recognise the importance of Kent and Medway to the UK economy and ensure that it is able to access limited government funding to stimulate new housing delivery across the County

3. Enable Kent to build on the success of its award-winning No Use Empty campaign by ensuring that Kent is able to take advantage of sources of public funding to continue to bring empty homes back into use

4. Work with local authorities and private registered providers across Kent and Medway to develop future funding models for affordable and social housing after the Affordable Homes Programme ends in 2015

5. Ensure that the independent review into institutional investment in the private rented sector considers models being developed in Kent which utilise public land and institutional funding to deliver new homes

6. Work with the public and private sectors to identify sources of funding for housing renewal and regeneration to tackle poor condition in the private sector across Kent and Medway

7. Support and help to enable the delivery of key strategic infrastructure to support economic growth across Kent and Medway

8. Support the New Homes Bonus scheme beyond the current commitment of 6 years to continue to stimulate new housing delivery across the County

9. Continue to support people’s aspirations for home ownership by raising stamp duty thresholds, maintaining support for first time buyers and exploring options for increasing affordable mortgage finance

10.Recognise the importance of housing the ageing population and provide support to enable innovative approaches to older people’s accommodation

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Better Homes:localism, aspiration and choice

7. The purpose of this Strategy

This Strategy describes the strategic direction for housing across Kentand Medway for the next three years, based on the local ambitions andaims of the Districts, Boroughs and Medway Council. It is unique in thatit looks across a whole County area and brings District, Borough,Unitary and County Council ambitions together in a bottom-upapproach.

It provides clarity on the major strategic housing challenges facing Kentand Medway, identifies common areas of concern and proposespragmatic solutions on issues where a Kent and Medway perspectivecan add value and contribute to delivery of local ambitions.

Changes to the social housing regime, the funding of affordable homes,the planning framework and the welfare system, combined with a pooreconomic climate, have exacerbated existing challenges, created newones and have made it harder for both the public and private sector torespond to these issues.

However, these factors have also created an environment whereinnovation can thrive. The scarcity of resources and the need tomaximise value for both the public and private purse has provided theopportunity for organisations in the public, private and third sectors toconsider new joint ways of tackling common problems.

Organisations will need to be open to new pragmatic ways of workingto realise the ambitions of this Strategy.

The Strategy is both an inward-facing and an outward-facing document.It seeks to encourage organisations across Kent and Medway to realisethe benefits of a shared approach to common problems wherecollectively it will add value. It also seeks to influence the government ina way that will benefit Kent and Medway.

8. Measuring success

To ensure the delivery of the Strategy, an implementation plan will bedeveloped, based on the Strategy’s recommendations, with clearoutcomes and success measures. This will be reported on regularly tothe Kent Forum.

We will also develop a dashboard of housing indicators, to track theimpact the Strategy is having across Kent and Medway and the impact ofgovernment policies such as welfare reform. It is proposed that thisdashboard will include data such as the number of completions and typeof housing built; house sale transactions; Right to Buy sales; house saleand rental prices; number of homelessness applications; number ofpeople placed in temporary accommodation and information to trackthe impacts of welfare reform.

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The Kent Forum Housing Strategy takes a new, radical look at housingand how it is delivered and has been developed directly under theauspices of the Kent Forum.

The County of Kent, including Medway, is unique in its diversity ofhousing. There are significant differences in housing need, quality andcondition, which require different solutions. This Strategy is thereforenot proposing a ‘one size fits all’ approach.

Statutory responsibility for housing and planning lies with the District,Borough and Unitary authorities within Kent and Medway. The statutoryframework for housing delivery and local priorities are already set outin Local Development Frameworks, Local Plans and Housing Strategiesproduced for Medway and each Kent District and Borough. ThisStrategy does not seek to replace these statutory documents, but aimsto complement them.

This document has been developed collaboratively between Kent andMedway local authorities, Kent Housing Group, Joint Policy and PlanningBoard, Kent Developers Group, Kent Planning Officers Group and otherpublic, private and third sector organisations with an interest in housing.It is the outcome of analysis, discussion and consultation on the majorhousing challenges facing us now and in the future.

This refresh of the Kent Forum Housing Strategy will help to enableorganisations across the County to respond strategically to the newhousing challenges that have emerged since the original Strategy waspublished in May 2011, including changes to the funding of newaffordable homes and the forthcoming welfare reforms.

With the abolition of Regional Spatial Strategies, local housing andplanning authorities will no longer have centrally imposed housingtargets that they are required to meet. Housing growth can bedetermined locally, at an appropriate level to meet local need andaspiration.

However, to secure adequate investment for the whole of the County, abottom-up co-ordinated approach to housing growth across Kent andMedway is required, bringing together District, Borough and Unitaryambitions into a combined County ambition for managed growth

This document has been produced at a time of deep fiscal uncertaintyand constraint, with long term impacts on the housing market and thedelivery of new homes. Yet as demand from a growing and ageingpopulation continues to rise, Kent and Medway are faced with themajor challenge of providing choice and meeting local aspiration andhousing need.

Introduction

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Better Homes:localism, aspiration and choice

This Strategy seeks to provide innovative ways of making this happenand creating homes and communities across Kent and Medway. It issupported by a range of detailed technical papers, evidence andresearch, which are available on the Kent Housing Group website(www.kenthousinggroup.org.uk).

1. What do we want to achieve?

We want to see housing put in place that meets the needs andaspirations of all Kent and Medway residents, now and in the future.

We want to see local housing and planning authorities in Kent andMedway deciding their own housing numbers, based on local people’sneeds, aspirations and ambitions for growth.

By using innovative and flexible approaches to finance and regulation wewill encourage managed growth that makes a lasting and positiveimpact.

We want to see our coastal and urban communities revitalised and ourrural areas thrive and prosper.

We want to ensure that Kent and Medway are not disproportionatelyaffected by the unintended consequences of welfare reform.

By creating successful communities, we will support people, whatevertheir needs, to fulfil their potential and live the best life they can.

We want all people in Kent and Medway to have the opportunity tochoose to live in a high quality home, in the place they want to live.

By listening to what people want, we will provide homes andcommunities that they will be proud to live in.

2. The themes and ambitions

In developing this Strategy we commissioned DTZ to undertake a Kentand Medway Strategic Housing Market Assessment (SHMA). Throughthis, we identified 5 key housing themes that affect the Kent andMedway area.

Theme 1 – Managed Growth and InfrastructureOur Ambition: The continued delivery of key infrastructure to supportmanaged growth and housing delivery across the County.

Theme 2 – Place-making and RegenerationOur Ambition: The continued regeneration of our disadvantagedneighbourhoods to bring them in line with more affluent parts of the County.

Theme 3 - Affordability and ChoiceOur Ambition: The provision of choice and affordability in housing for thecitizens of Kent and Medway, including rural communities, which meets theirneeds and aspirations.

Theme 4 - Housing RenewalOur Ambition:The managed improvement and retrofit of existing homes tomake them fit for now and the future.

Theme 5 - Housing NeedOur Ambition: To support vulnerable people in housing need to fulfil theirpotential and live a high quality life through the provision of excellent housingand support services.

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3. What do we want government to do?

The successful delivery of our ambitions will require authorities acrossKent and Medway to influence policy at a government level.

Our previous Strategy contained eight “asks of government”, seven ofwhich have helped to shape the government’s emerging housing agenda.But there is more that is needed if we are to meet our housingambitions.

Our key asks of government are:

1. Ensure that Kent and Medway do not suffer a disproportionate rise in new housing benefit claimants as an unintended consequence of welfare reform

2. Recognise the importance of Kent and Medway to the UK economy and ensure that it is able to access limited government funding to stimulate new housing delivery across the County

3. Enable Kent to build on the success of its award-winning No Use Empty campaign by ensuring that Kent is able to take advantage of sources of public funding to continue to bring empty homes back into use

4. Work with local authorities and private registered providers across Kent and Medway to develop future funding models for affordable and social housing after the Affordable Homes Programme ends in 2015

5. Ensure that the independent review into institutional investment in the private rented sector considers models being developed in Kent which utilise public land and institutional funding to deliver new homes

6. Work with the public and private sectors to identify sources of funding for housing renewal and regeneration to tackle poor condition in the private sector across Kent and Medway

7. Support and help to enable the delivery of key strategic infrastructure to support economic growth across Kent and Medway

8. Support the New Homes Bonus scheme beyond the current commitment of 6 years to continue to stimulate new housing delivery across the County

9. Continue to support people’s aspirations for home ownership by raising stamp duty thresholds, maintaining support for first time buyers and exploring options for increasing affordable mortgage finance

10.Recognise the importance of housing the ageing population and provide support to enable innovative approaches to older people’s accommodation

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Better Homes:localism, aspiration and choice

1. The financial climate

The current global economic outlook is challenging and uncertain. TheUK is not immune from risks posed by international issues such as theongoing Euro crisis, and consumer and investor confidence is currentlyweak.

Growth in the UK has slowed and the Office for Budget Responsibilityanticipate a period of slow economic growth, with real recovery nothappening before 2013; a decline in real earnings until 2013; and highlevels of unemployment, with unemployment of above 8% until 2015.

Household incomes have fallen and are expected to keep falling until2016. This, combined with rising prices, particularly for food and fuel, hassqueezed household budgets further.

The housing market has been impacted by the wider economicdownturn. Mortgage lending has fallen to around half of the long termaverage observed in the period 2000-07, partly due to a drop inconsumer confidence and partly a result of a more cautious approachbeing taken by lenders. High deposit requirements, particularly for firsttime buyers, have kept transaction levels muted.

Housebuilding remains at an all time low, with just over 5,000 newhomes being delivered in Kent and Medway during 2010/11, comparedto around 8,000 at the peak in 2007/08. A key aspect of this is therestriction on developer finance, both for housebuilders and privateregistered providers, with finance being both costly and difficult toaccess.

Less public money is also available to support the development ofaffordable homes. The government’s budget for housing has beenreduced from £9bn over the three year Spending Review period 2008-11 to £4.5bn in the current four year Spending Review period 2011-15,the equivalent of a 62% reduction in the annual housing budget.

The government’s continuing deficit reduction plan is likely to see publicspending being squeezed even further, potentially opening up a greaterrole for the private sector in delivering affordable homes.

The realities of the current financial climate present an opportunity forpublic, private and third sector organisations to work together todevelop innovative ways of delivering much-needed new house growthand supporting local housing services.

2. Localism

The coalition government has made it clear that it wants to see localpeople put back at the heart of decision-making.

The Localism Act, which received Royal Assent in November 2011, aimsto devolve power and decision-making from central government tolocal authorities and local communities.

It sets out new freedoms and flexibilities for local government tosupport local growth, including the right to determine their own localbusiness rates.

Setting the Scene

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Communities and individuals will be able to greater influence localdevelopment through neighbourhood plans and the Community Rightto Build, ensuring that development meets the needs and aspirations oflocal people.

The Act also introduces reforms to make the planning system moredemocratic and more effective, and removes centrally imposed housingtargets to give local authorities the freedom to make decisions abouthousing at a local level.

Authorities in Kent and Medway have long been supportive of thelocalism agenda and a joined-up approach to delivering the services thatcitizens want. In 2007, the County and District Councils signed theKent Commitment, which contained a commitment to work togetherto innovate and improve the quality of life of people in Kent.

Kent and Medway authorities remain passionate about bringingdecision-making and services closer to local people.

The Localism Act presents a real opportunity to involve local people indetermining local growth and ambition and ensure that local need andaspiration are catered for.

3. Changes to the planning regime

The Localism Act introduced significant changes to the planning systemacross England.

The Act enables the abolition of Regional Spatial Strategies, such as theSouth East Plan. Rather than work to centrally-imposed targets, theDistrict and Borough Councils in Kent and Medway Council, as the localplanning authorities, will be able to determine their own housingnumbers and ambitions for growth.

The Act also introduces a statutory duty for local authorities and otherpublic bodies such as the Environment Agency, the Highways Agency andPrimary Care Trusts (and their successors) to co-operate withinplanning process.

The government is determined to simplify the planning regime andmake it easier for new development to be delivered. The new NationalPlanning Policy Framework has consolidated and streamlined themajority of existing planning policy and includes a presumption in favourof sustainable development. The Framework states that thegovernment’s key housing objective is to “deliver a wide choice of highquality homes” and includes a range of measures aimed at boostinghousing supply. These include requiring local planning authorities to:ensure their Local Plans meet the full requirement for housing in theirarea and identify key delivery sites; ensure they have a rolling supply ofdeliverable sites sufficient to provide for 5 years of housing against theirhousing requirements with an additional buffer of 5%; and to identify asupply of specific, developable sites or broad locations for growth foryears 6-10.

“Localism is about pushing power outwards, downwards as far aspossible…It isn't just about council freedoms. Residents will get todecide for themselves what their area looks like. Community groups willget new rights to save or take over treasured local assets… And peoplewill be able to hold local referendums on issues that matter to them.”Rt. Hon Eric Pickles, MP

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The Localism Act also introduces a new right for communities, includingparish councils in rural areas, to draw up a neighbourhood plan, to helpinfluence the future development of their local area. The previous top-down, target-driven approach was felt by the government to havealienated communities and stimulated opposition to development, oftencausing development to be delayed, at cost to both the developer andthe local authority or blocked, stifling housing and economic growth.

Through neighbourhood plans, the government hopes that localcommunities will be empowered to take responsibility for planningpolicy for their neighbourhoods and help to ensure that newdevelopment meets local needs.

4. English Housing Strategy

In December 2011, the coalition government published its EnglishHousing Strategy - Laying the Foundations: A Housing Strategy for England.

The government’s Strategy brings together a range of previouslyannounced policies and legislative change and sets out the government’stop housing priorities, which are:

1 Support to deliver new homes and support aspiration1 Supporting choice and quality for tenants1 Tackling empty homes1 Better quality homes, places and housing support

The Strategy acknowledges that new ways of working are required tounlock the housing market, stimulate new housing delivery and offerpeople choice, flexibility and affordable housing.

A key tenet of the English Housing Strategy is for local areas to developtheir own responses to address these issues. Public, private and thirdsectors should use innovative methods to develop pragmatic solutionsto meet local need and aspiration and stimulate local housing delivery.

Through the Kent Forum Housing Strategy and the strong partnershipworking arrangements already in place, authorities across Kent andMedway are well-positioned to respond to this challenge and workcollaboratively where appropriate to address local housing need andsupport local growth.

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5. Welfare reform

The government is introducing radical changes to the existing welfaresystem. The main aim of the Welfare Reform Act, which received RoyalAssent in March 2012, is to incentivise people into work and movethem away from reliance on state welfare as well as reducing theamount of government money spent on benefits.

Housing Benefit in particular, is being radically overhauled. Currentlythere are just under five million people in the UK claiming HousingBenefit at a cost of around £21billion.

Local Housing Allowance (LHA) has been set at the 30th percentile ofmarket rents instead of the current 50th percentile, meaning those inthe private rented sector may have to find extra resources to be able tomeet their housing costs.

A cap on the maximum amount of LHA that can be claimed perproperty size has also been introduced, with the maximum being £400per week for a four-bed property. LHA is also expected to be priced inline with the lower CPI rather than RPI, which could mean benefitsbecome disconnected with rent levels.

The single room allowance, which covers the rent of a room in a sharedhouse, has been extended to cover those aged between 25 and 34,which means current recipients may find their benefit being cut to alevel which does not meet their current housing costs.

The proposed introduction of Universal Credit in 2013, which aims tobring together benefits for working age people, including for housingcosts, into a single payment, is also likely to have a significant impact onsome people’s ability to pay for housing that meets their needs, as is theproposed total benefit cap of £26,000 per year.

The full impact of these changes on Kent and Medway is currentlyunknown but concerns have already been raised about the potential fordisplacement of benefit dependent households from London to Kent,the impact on large families’ ability to access housing, the impact onvulnerable people and the potential for a rise in levels of homelessness.These issues are discussed elsewhere in this Strategy.

6. Homelessness

The impacts of the economic crisis, unemployment and low wageinflation, combined with increasing living costs, have seen homelessnessservices across Kent come under increasing pressure.

Private rental costs have increased, making the sector difficult to accessfor low wage earners. There is potential for new properties rented at80% of market rents under the new Affordable Rent Framework toequally be priced at a level not easily affordable for low incomehouseholds, which could lead to an increase in the use of temporaryaccommodation to house those in need.

The government’s welfare reforms could also to lead to an unintendedincrease in the number of people finding themselves homeless and actas barrier to vulnerable and low income households accessing theprivate rented sector.

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7. Wider growth context

7.1. How does this Strategy link in with wider growthobjectives?

Housing makes a key contribution to the wider growth andregeneration of Kent and Medway and the relationship betweenhousing, economic development and regeneration is fundamental to thesuccess of this strategy.

The right housing in the right place can help to drive economic growthand provide for the needs of a growing workforce.

Within this Strategy, we seek to make the most of the opportunitiespresented by the County’s unique position as the UK’s front door andthe benefits of major recent infrastructure investment. Servicesbetween Ashford, North Kent, East Kent and London on High SpeedOne have drastically reduced journey times and are proving highlypopular, increasing the County’s long-term attractiveness.

Despite tough economic conditions, development plans for Kent’sregeneration and growth areas in the Thames Gateway, Ashford and thecoastal and principal towns are well advanced and moving ahead,opening up some of the most significant investment opportunities in theSouth East. Building on this investment to create an environment forpeople and businesses to live, work and invest is at the heart of ourplans for growth.

At the same time, successful regeneration must include investment inour existing communities to ensure its benefits have the widest possibleimpact – supporting the most disadvantaged areas of Kent and Medwaythrough the economic downturn.

7.2. How does this Strategy link with other regeneration anddevelopment strategies?

This Strategy is one of several that support Unlocking Kent’s Potential,KCC’s Framework for Regeneration. This sets out an overarchingassessment of the key opportunities and challenges facing Kent over thecoming years. It takes an integrated approach to regeneration,emphasising the links between economic growth, improved skills levels,better quality housing, effective transport infrastructure and the need toadapt to the changing demands of our growing population.

In addition, the Strategy reflects the priorities set out in Bold Steps forKent¸ KCC’s Medium Term Plan and in the four Local Investment Plansthat set out priority locations for growth across the County andhousing and community strategies at District level.

It also helps to deliver the aspirations of the South East LocalEnterprise Partnership to make Kent & Medway, Essex and East Sussexcollectively the country’s most enterprising local economy through apositive focus on infrastructure and business growth.

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Theme 1: Managed Growth and Infrastructure

Our Ambition: The continued delivery of keyinfrastructure to support managed growth and housingdelivery across the County.

1. Context

Local authorities are keen to ensure that development and managedgrowth in Kent and Medway gets moving again.

Due to the recession, many sites stalled as lower public sector fundingand developer contributions impacted on the level of infrastructureworks that can unlock sites. The public and private sectors need toconsider how they can work together to support economic growth,through the collective use of and disposal of public land assets, and tosecure investment.

Infrastructure is vital for achieving managed growth and for ensuring thedelivery of housing. In a world of reducing capital to fund infrastructure,this will need to be planned in a much more collaborative way betweenCounty, Districts, Boroughs and Medway.

The recession had various impacts on the housing sector and led to:

1 A fall in the value of residential property1 A tightening of lending criteria for mortgage finance leading to significantly constricted supply and a reduction in the number of first time buyers able to access the market

1 A large number of redundancies in the house building and associated sectors

1 Lack of job security affecting people’s confidence in the market and desire to move home

It is widely recognised that relatively easy access to mortgage financewas a driver for the growth in the housing market and rise in houseprices. The restriction in mortgage availability due to the CreditCrunch was the first major impact on the housing market and createdthe initial impact on the number of new homes that were being sold bythe national house builders, with many stopping building altogether.

The subsequent issues are well documented and so are not repeatedhere. However, the key consequences can be summarised as:

1 The impact of the fall in house prices on the viability of certain schemes

1 The need to renegotiate many of the planning commitments (s.106 and other conditions) made by developers as these can no longer be supported by the scheme

1 A reduction in the capacity in the house building sector

These factors led to the ‘old model’ of delivering infrastructure andaffordable housing no longer being sustainable in the current climate.However, market conditions vary across the County and s.106 willremain an important source of investment alongside new innovativemodels.

There is some evidence that conditions are easing, but recent growth inhouse prices has only been in certain locations. As noted above, one of the impacts of the Credit Crunch and recession

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is a significant reduction in the number of new homes being completedand the impact this has on the delivery of affordable homes. Whilst thegovernment has made available additional funding to assist withmaintaining delivery of new housing, the total number of new homesdelivered has been falling and the public sector has had a growingreliance on the private sector for the supply of new affordable homes(through s.106 agreements). This is shown in Figure 2.

In light of the data shown in Figure 2 the public sector is faced with twochoices: to wait for property market values to return or to actproactively to try to facilitate delivery of new homes.To support the proposition of a proactive approach, the 2009 Report

Building Better Lives recognised the importance of local authoritieshaving strategic housing policies; not with a planning focus but toprovide a clear route to delivery.

Some of the report’s key recommendations relevant to stimulating thesupply and choice of new homes include:

1 the creation of effective housing partnerships between District and County Councils

1 the use of well-being powers to assist in achieving strategic housing objectives

1 to continuously review land and property holdings (at District, County and Unitary levels) to identify opportunities to release land for new market or affordable housing

1 to review and develop joint working arrangements between councils,especially among neighbouring districts, and between councils and Private registered providers, in order to enhance the strategic housing capacity

1 to seize opportunities presented by the recession that offer the best prospect of achieving strategic housing objectives and good value formoney

A lot of these issues have been taken forward by the coalitiongovernment as part of their English Housing Strategy, published at theend of 2011.

Figure 2 – Total Housing Supply

0

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Local Authority RSLs Private

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1.1. The Key Challenge

Even with the intended abolition of the Regional Spatial Strategy, thescale of the issue is substantial. Under the previous South East Planrequirement for 140,000 new homes in Kent and Medway by 2026, land,construction costs, finance and profit would have require a total pool offunding to be secured of around £30 billion in today’s money.

This section seeks to address 3 key questions:

1. How can we use the planning system to deliver the right homes?

This includes:1 Housing growth without the Regional Spatial Strategy and planning infrastructure

1 Localism

2. How can we stimulate demand led supply of market homes?

This includes:1 Funding infrastructure and options for facilitating the release of strategic land

1 Where appropriate, to assist with funding remediation and facilitating land assembly

1 Land supply

3. How can we stimulate the supply of affordable homes?

This includes:1 Different forms of delivery model that could be considered both through collaboration to create a Kent and Medway delivery approach and;

1 At a local level to create new supply of affordable homes to address local market circumstances

1 Levering private sector investment in affordable homes

2. Planning for managed growth

The forthcoming abolition of the Regional Spatial Strategy will presentan opportunity for local housing and planning authorities in Kent andMedway to locally determine their own housing growth andinfrastructure requirements. Rather than being forced to deliver top-down centrally imposed targets, housing numbers can be derived fromthe bottom-up, based on local need and aspiration.

Through new measures introduced by the Localism Act, such asNeighbourhood Plans and Neighbourhood Development Orders, localhousing and planning authorities will be able to involve local people indeveloping their ambitions for local growth and put local communitiesin the driving seat.

There is also an opportunity to ensure that there is a clear Kent andMedway appreciation of overall housing growth, developed in a bottom-up approach from locally-determined requirements. With a futurereduction in capital for infrastructure, housing growth needs to beunderstood across the County, to ensure that the right infrastructurecan be put in place to help deliver it.

Working collectively will also help to ensure Kent and Medwayauthorities attract the right level of investment and give confidence todevelopers and government that Kent is open for business.

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2.1. Housing Forecasts

The original version of this Strategy recommended that authorities’locally-determined planning and housing requirements could be broughttogether in a combined housing growth and infrastructure ambition forKent and Medway, based on individual housing and planning authorities’priorities for local growth.

The Kent Planning Officers Group commissioned a planning officersgroup, the Housing Forecasts Group, to develop a Local HousingMethodology for Kent and Medway, a common framework for derivinghousing numbers which seeks to assist local planning authorities in Kentin developing the dwelling numbers to be provided by their local plans.

The approach set out by the methodology can be applied flexibly to suitlocal circumstances, which may require that either employmentobjectives or local housing need should be the primary consideration.

The approach does not recommend the dwelling quantities to beprovided. This is to be determined locally by individual housing andplanning authorities when developing their local plans.

However, the Housing Forecasts Group have drawn together thedwelling numbers in adopted local plans and the possible outcomesfrom those plans still considering a range into a combined managedgrowth ambition for Kent and Medway.

This ambition is represented by a range from 134,390 – 149,590dwellings, although these values could change as new local plansprogress in the coming months.

This compares favourably with the South East Plan target of 139,420and demonstrates a real commitment from Kent and Medwayauthorities to housing growth.

There is now a need to understand the strategic and localinfrastructure required across the County to enable the delivery of thisproposed housing growth and ensure that it is adequately resourced.

2.2. Neighbourhood Planning

Neighbourhood Plans, as envisaged in the Localism Act 2011, can be acommunity-led approach to the delivery of housing of all tenures.

Neighbourhood Plans will be prepared and led in parished areas by theParish or Town Council or, where they do not exist, a neighbourhoodforum, with assistance from the local planning authority.

Building on the success of such community-led approaches as ParishPlans – which in Kent normally involve between 50% and 90% of thepopulation in their preparation, it is intended that Neighbourhood Planswill increase citizen involvement in the physical planning ofcommunities.

Neighbourhood Plans will offer the opportunity to identify sites forhousing, and other development, as is deemed appropriate by the localcommunity.

Key to the success of Neighbourhood Plans will be a positive workingrelationship between stakeholders such as the local planning authority,landowners and community groups, in the process of preparing anyplan.

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Land Securities

Models for co-creation of such plans exist already in the fields ofcommunity-led planning (e.g. Parish Plans in both rural and urbancommunities) and local needs housing (as expressed through RuralHomes: Supporting Kent’s Rural Communities – the Kent and MedwayRural Housing Protocol.) As such, authorities in Kent and Medwayshould look to learn from existing local practice to assist in theproduction of Neighbourhood Plans in Kent and Medway.

RECOMMENDATION: Kent Planning Officers Group, KentHousing Group, Kent Developers Group and the KentAssociation of Local Councils to develop a best practice guideto Neighbourhood Planning, to assist in the production of, andprovide a framework for, Neighbourhood Plans.

3. Funding managed growth

The government has introduced a range of measures to try to stimulatenew housing and infrastructure delivery, whilst reducing the level ofpublic subsidy available.

The English Housing Strategy announced the introduction of twogovernment funds to help support growth. The £500m Growing PlacesFund has a specific focus on enabling the immediate delivery ofinfrastructure to support housing and economic growth. The funding ismeant to support the creation of local infrastructure funds, which canrecycle funds for other projects as developments are completed.

Through the £400m Get Britain Building Fund, the Homes andCommunities Agency (HCA) will provide loans or equity investments todevelopers to unlock sites which have planning permission in place, buthave stalled due to a lack of finance. Developments will need to be fullybuilt out within two years and the money returned to the HCA byMarch 2018.

Across Kent and Medway, 5 bids potentially providing around 400homes have been shortlisted by the HCA and are currently undergoingthe due diligence process. In addition, a bid for 100 homes on theCheeseman’s Green site in Ashford was successful under the HCA’searly commissioning stage and building restarted there in April 2012.

3.1. New Homes Bonus

The New Homes Bonus is designed to create an effective fiscalincentive to encourage local authorities to facilitate housinggrowth. Government wants show the economic benefits of growth in amore visible way within the local area, by matching the council taxraised on increases in new homes.

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The government has also stated that empty homes that are returned touse will qualify for the New Homes Bonus, something that will not onlyimprove the supply of homes, but also improve communities.

This incentive pays local authorities the equivalent of the averagecouncil tax generated per new home for 6 years. There is also anadditional premium of £350 per new affordable home that is delivered.

New Homes Bonus has the potential to deliver significant funding and in2012/13 will deliver around £14m across Kent, split between theDistrict and Boroughs and Kent County Council and around £2m inMedway. However, this is funded from the formula grant and localauthorities may lose other funding to enable this scheme to work. NewHomes Bonus will not be ring-fenced and authorities will need toconsider their own budgetary policies for how to use this funding.

3.2. Community Infrastructure Levy

The introduction of a Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) will enablea charge to be levied by local authorities on most new building in theirarea, which must be used to fund the infrastructure that is needed fordevelopment to proceed, such as roads, schools and communityfacilities.

CIL will be able to be applied to sites currently too small to triggers.106 obligations, which across Kent and Medway as a whole, is asignificant proportion of development, making it a useful additionalincome stream. Local authorities across Kent and Medway are currently involved in avariety of projects to develop shared understanding of the implicationsof CIL.

Ashford Borough Council, Dover District Council and KCC arerunning a government-funded pilot to test the issues raised by CIL andwill look to share that and the best practice that emerges with otherlocal authorities across the County. Other work is underway in NorthKent where consultants are modelling infrastructure needs over timeand the scale of the early financing gap before annual contributionsbegin to match or exceed infrastructure costs.

CIL will provide an alternative source of income that could be used tofund some of the infrastructure needed to realise local developmentplans, which is particularly beneficial at a time when limited public fundsare available. However, there are strong indications that the level of CILlikely to be realised across the County will fall short of the amountneeded to fund necessary strategic infrastructure.

Local authorities need to consider working together to minimise risksto future service delivery and economic growth and maximisedevelopment opportunities.

RECOMMENDATION: Local authorities to agree a set ofcommon principles to effectively determine infrastructurerequirements across the County

3.3. Tax Increment Financing

Capital funding for infrastructure is expected to come under particularpressure as the government seeks to reduce the UK’s budget deficit,

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meaning that we cannot continue to rely on existing funding streams.This will require us to take a pragmatic approach to implementationand bold and innovative steps to identify possible alternative sources offunding for community infrastructure.

At the same time, the government is promoting new mechanisms toenable local authorities to benefit from the proceeds of growth, forexample through New Homes Bonus and the local retention of growthin business rates.

In particular, business rate retention could support the introduction of aform of Tax Increment Financing (TIF), and authorities in Kent andMedway have been keen to promote and influence the ongoingdiscussion with government about the benefits that this might bring.

Tax Increment Finance (TIF) works by a local authority being able toretain a proportion of the additional business rates that are generatedthrough the commercial development arising from the scheme. The TIFis purely therefore the additional business rates that are truly generatedas a consequence of the new development i.e. net of any existing ratesderived from the site prior to development. A key test known as the‘but for test’ has to be met in that it needs to be unequivocallydemonstrated that ‘but for’ TIF the development and consequentialbusiness rates and other indirect taxes would not arise.

The basic TIF model is shown in Figure 3:Figure 3 – Basic TIF model

There are number of development schemes across Kent and Medwaywhere a TIF would unlock the economic development potential of thesite. Case studies in respect of EbbsfleetValley, Dover Waterfront andTown Centre Regeneration, EuroKent Town Centre RegenerationThanet and Eureka Park Ashford were submitted to CLG in 2009.

Local Authority forwardfunds infrastucture

Private/public sectordevelops sites

Incremental taxrevenues arise

Tax revenues captured by TIF

Revenues usedto repay debtand interest

1 General business rates

1 SDLT

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More needs to be done to fully understand the benefits of the various‘levers for growth’ that the government is introducing, and how Kentcan best take advantage of them, and this is being taken forward by KentForum.

There is also the opportunity for some local authorities to consider theuse of their funds to invest in structures that not only create anacceptable financial return but also benefit sub regions. Such a proposalcould be linked to potential government investment (such as theGrowing Places Fund) and could be structured in such a way that wouldbe ‘revolving’, thereby evolving returns to be reinvested into anotherpre-agreed project within the sub region.

RECOMMENDATION: Promote and engage with governmentproposals for the introduction of Tax Increment Financing andother innovative forms of infrastructure funding and supportpilot projects in Kent and Medway.

3.4. The Affordable Homes Programme

The coalition government has introduced a radical new funding regimefor the delivery of affordable housing. The Homes and CommunitiesAgency’s (HCA’s) Affordable Homes Programme provides funding fornew low cost home ownership homes and affordable rented propertieslet at up to 80% of market rent on non-permanent tenancies. Socialhousing will no longer be funded by the HCA.

Around 4,000 affordable homes are expected to be delivered acrossKent and Medway by 2015, but at a much reduced average grant rate –approximately a third of historic levels. This represents around half theannual rate delivered through HCA investment in Kent over theprevious four years.

The majority of new affordable housing supply will be delivered asAffordable Rent. This has been designed to give Providers (local housingauthorities and private registered providers) scope to increase rents onnew lettings. Affordable Rents can be set at up to 80% of market rents.

This represents a shift from capital to revenue funding of affordablehousing and it is broadly acknowledged by commentators that althoughshort term savings will be made on grant, the Housing Benefit bill willrise as rents increase and housing providers will also need to borrowmore to fund development.

Providers who have bid for HCA funding under the Affordable HomesProgramme have made assumptions about the level of rents they canachieve and their business plans will be based on this. Rents are likely tobe set at the maximum level possible to secure greater revenue whichcan then be channelled in to development of new homes. Providershave significant scope to increase rents from social rented levels beforethe Local Housing Allowance limit is reached in some parts of Kent butin others there is likely to be less scope for increasing rents. For manytenants the increase in rent will be met by an increase in HousingBenefit since Local Housing Allowance limits are set at entry levelmarket rents. But not all tenants receive the full rate of Housing Benefitand some do not receive any Housing Benefit at all. They must meettheir rental costs out of their own income and earnings.

Providers are concerned about the risks of arrears and void levels ifrents are set too high for their tenants, or if some are unable to managetheir own budgets, or if support through Housing Benefit starts todwindle.

The Local Housing Allowance (which is likely to become the housingelement of Universal Credit) will be increased in line with CPI in thefuture. Providers in Kent have indicated that they are likely to increase

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rents in line with RPI plus 0.5%, which will mean they will grow fasterthan benefit rates.

If arrears increase, this will impact on Providers’ ability to raise financeagainst their assets and they will also have to invest more of theirresources in chasing rents and dealing with voids – diverting resourcesaway from development activities.

The Affordable Rent regime in its current form does not appear to be asustainable model for continued delivery of much-need affordablehomes. It is unlikely that private registered providers would be able toraise similar levels of finance were the Affordable Homes Programmeto run again in 2015 and the impact of welfare reform on Providers’balance sheets is as yet unknown.

RECOMMENDATION: Kent Housing Group to work with theHomes and Communities Agency to develop new models forthe delivery of social and affordable housing in Kent andMedway after 2015.

3.5. Housing Revenue Account reform

The government has also introduced changes to the way in which localauthorities that still hold their own social housing finance this housing.

The existing Housing Revenue Account (HRA) subsidy system has beenreplaced by one of ‘self-financing’, giving local authorities more freedomto manage their housing finances. Under the new system, in return fora one-off adjustment of their housing debt, local housing authorities willretain their rental income locally and have the freedom to re-invest themoney locally.

Borrowing has been largely via the public works loan board atfavourable low interest rates, creating a very low interest payment onthe debt which should have provided a windfall to those councils thathad modelled their debt payments on higher interest rates.

Negative subsidy payers will find that their payment on debt over the 30years business plan to be substantially less than they would have paid insubsidy.

The headroom provided gives an opportunity to local authorities thathold their own housing to make a positive impact in their communities,become self supporting and operate in a more business-like approach.Authorities can consider reinvesting in new housing initiatives, such asbuilding new homes on their own land, investing in green technology toimprove the efficiency of existing homes or fund improvements to theirexisting stock (see Case Study 1).

There are some potential risks to this new approach that may affect anauthorities’ ability to invest, such as changes in interest rates and theimpact of benefit reforms on rental income, which will have to becarefully monitored.

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Case Study 1: Use of HRA to Remodel Sheltered Housing, Ashford

4. Using public assets to deliver managed growth

Even in the peak of the market, devising strategies to deliver managedgrowth in disadvantaged areas could prove challenging. In the postrecession era, successful strategies require a thorough understanding ofthe different forms and application of development agreements betweenthe private and public sectors. It is also now necessary to reassess theapportionment of risk between the two sectors and to be aware ofareas where the public sector can add value in facilitating delivery ofwhat are – by definition – challenging projects.

Historically, the public sector has generally opted for a relatively straightforward form when disposing of its assets, in some cases even using aninformal tender process. The reason for this was invariably that marketconditions were strong and therefore local authorities could usually beassured of achieving upfront capital receipts and often also securecontractual commitments from developers to develop sites inaccordance with agreed specifications and development programmes.

Since the Credit Crunch, local authorities cannot automatically dealwith the disposal of their assets in the same way. Indeed, it could beargued that to do so may not achieve best value and compliance withtheir statutory obligations under s.123 of the Local Government Act1972.

Part of the solution to this issue is gaining a better understanding of thenature of different forms of development agreement, when they wouldbe suitable to use, and the potential risk and returns that go with each.Whilst specific legal advice will be required for each situation, a localauthority’s “well being powers” are broadly drawn and could supportmany innovative potential solutions.

A summary of the range of delivery structures suggested by CBRE asbeing available to local authorities to consider is illustrated in Figure 4:

Ashford Borough Council (ABC) sees reform of the HousingRevenue Account (HRA) subsidy system as a positive opportunity toenhance and improve their housing services.

The change in the system means that instead of paying £9m insubsidy in 2012/13, ABC will be servicing a loan with interest of £4min the same year – a gain of £5m. A significant proportion of this willbe used to help remodel 8 of their sheltered housing schemes, aspart of the Council’s drive to deliver a range of extra care housingfacilities for a growing older population.

ABC are looking at spending £35m on these sheltered schemes inthe next 12 years or so with the money made available by HRAreform. The remodelling should see major refurbishment of schemes,eliminating any remaining bedsits and creating a mix of one and twobed dwellings with improved communal facilities for both schemeresidents and the local community.

The improvements will also help to free up family-sized properties byoffering a more attractive alternative housing option to older peoplecurrently under-occupying houses.

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4.1. Local asset backed vehicles

These are forms of joint venture and in some ways are better referredto as such so that they do not appear overcomplicated.

Local asset backed vehicles are often corporate structures (for examplea limited liability partnership) and would be set up to addressdevelopment across multiple projects and are therefore suited tomixed-use development. Land would be transferred into the vehicleson satisfaction of defined conditions. The partner(s) in the vehiclewould contribute agreed equity and the vehicle itself would then raisecapital to deliver the projects identified in its business plan.

The circumstances of each project would need to be considered inrecommending a suitable structure. However, a potential structure isillustrated in Figure 5:

Figure 5 – Potential structure for local asset backed vehicles

When should this approach be considered?

These structures are suitable for multiple projects where the deliverypartner is not necessarily going to be the developer of the identifiedsites or projects.

The inevitable costs associated with setting up the vehicle andprocuring a delivery partner mean that these vehicles are ideal forlonger term projects (10 – 15 years) and enable other forms ofdevelopment structure to be applied to specific projects.They are very suitable for regeneration projects where the localauthority wants to take a truly longer term view and may want toparticipate either through taking a lease of public assets or throughhelping to fund certain aspects, for example the public infrastructure. Aswith any more complex delivery model, the business case and value for

Strong MarketGenerous S106

Low RiskLow ReturnSingle Asset

Multiple AssetInnovation

Time consuming and complexHigher risk, higher retunr

Clear regeneration objectiveClear assessment of risk/return

Developmentagreement

Directdevelopment

One-offsite sales

Developmentagreements with

overage

Local assetbackedvehicles

Local housingcompanies

Jointventures

Development - Risk/Reward

Figure 4 - Potential Delivery Structures

Project delivered

Debt finance

(Assets) 50% (Equity) 50%

Other developments

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Public sector stakeholders

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Localauthority RDA EP/IHCA PCT

A B

54321

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ener

ates

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money assessment need careful consideration to ensure the publicbodies’ duties and obligations are met.

RECOMMENDATION: Public sector organisations exploreopportunities to enter into agreements with the privatesector that exploit the potential to leverage existing assets tostimulate housing delivery.

A number of local authorities have undertaken feasibility studies to lookat the potential to use value that could be created from small parcels ofland to help fund and facilitate delivery of regeneration projects. These“Hidden Homes” studies are undertaken using rigorous criteria toestablish whether land could either be used better for provision ofhomes – through minor redevelopment or amalgamation of adjacentinterests, or where land is vacant and could offer the potential forlimited scale development of new homes. A review undertaken byCBRE of Brighton and Hove City Council’s housing portfolio identifiedpotential sites for around 800 new homes, some of which could bedelivered in the short term with others requiring a medium termstrategy to realise. Whilst Brighton and Hove is a large unitary, othersmaller studies undertaken for local authorities have identified newopportunities through a similar application of rigorous assessmentcriteria (see Case Study 3).

The Bridge is a 264 acre mixed-useproject that is being developed as ajoint venture partnership betweenDartford Borough Council andProLogis to bring to life the Council’svision for the rebirth of NorthDartford.

The scheme will provide up to 1500homes, with 30% being affordablehousing. The site includes communityand leisure facilities, commercialaccommodation, more than 80 acresof public open space and a new‘Fastrack’ transport system.

The development has a variety ofhousing types and styles, quality public spaces, community pocket parksand a real sense of place. Homes and the landscape are arranged in away that encourages people to get to know each other and forchildren to play safely. All homes have been designed to be five minutesfrom the central amenities and sports and play areas. All residents aresupplied with free travel on Fastrack route A and have screens in theirhomes providing real time arrival information of the buses.

A community hub was opened in 2009 which includes school. There isa Business and Innovation Centre and large scale employees such asSainsbury are creating a substantial number of jobs.

Case study 2: The Bridge, Dartford

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Ashford Borough Council (ABC) commissioned DHA Planning toundertake a comprehensive study of all their land holdings in a systematic way.The work assessed how they could better manage their assets, from planningpermissions for built development on some sites through to disposals oflandholdings to produce revenue or reduce maintenance costs.

Each site owned by ABC was considered in detail and given an assessment ofits potential for viable development, as well as considering what constraintsmight exist to hinder development.

ABC has been able to proactively use this detailed information to prioritisehow sites can be taken forward and how the assets can be used moreeffectively and efficiently. Some of the sites identified for development havebeen through the planning stage and are now delivering new affordablehousing using HCA funding.

78 homes for social rent have been completed, built on land identifiedthrough the site assessment process. This included 2 homes designed to meetthe specific needs of 2 disabled families, 4 flats and 1 bungalow of supportedaccommodation for people with learning disabilities and a 9 flat extension to asheltered scheme. Developed under the National Affordable HousingProgramme 2008-11 the HCA contributed an average grant of £58,000 perhome.

Continuing to utilise areas of council owned land a further 59 homes arebeing progressed for completion by April 2015. Funded by an average grantof £22,500 per home through the HCA Affordable Homes Programme 2011-15, these homes will be let as affordable rent.

These relatively small developments are being brought forward in both urbanand rural areas, increasing the availability of affordable housing across theborough

Case study 3: Ashford Land Assessment5. Enabling new housing delivery

Following the 2011 Comprehensive Spending Review, the Homes andCommunities Agency (HCA) has adopted a key enabling role, providinginvestment and delivery support to local authorities, local enterprisepartnerships, delivery partners and wider partnerships.

In addition the HCA will assist in identifying where national investmentprogrammes can be linked to public and private sector investment andexpertise available locally in order to meet local priorities, and work tobroker the alignment of such investment with the means of delivery.Local authorities should work in partnership with the HCA to secureand concentrate investment from a range of public and private sources,to help deliver their local priorities. Local Investment Plans will have akey role to play by helping to set out what those key local priorities are.

Although funding opportunities are much diminished compared toprevious years, local authorities across Kent and Medway should try toensure that they are ready to seize opportunities that may becomeavailable, such as the Growing Places Fund. Having a pipeline ofstrategic projects which are “shovel ready” may in the medium-termenable the delivery of local economic growth.

Applying a robust commercial approach to housing development is alsoessential as well as balanced pragmatism on the part of local authoritiesin terms of realistic levels and timings of planning obligations. The HCAis offering to establish a network of Commercial Champions in Kentopen to one person per local authority with training provided directlyby the HCA Executive Director to enable a network of experts inviability examination across the County.

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Ensuring a shared understanding of viability between local authoritiesand developers that recognises the current constraints of the financialclimate will help to ensure that new housing can be delivered in a timelyand effective manner.

RECOMMENDATION: Kent Developers Group, Kent PlanningOfficers Group, Kent Housing Group and the Homes andCommunities Agency to develop a Kent-wide understandingon viability for local authorities and developers to enable moreeffective delivery of new homes across Kent and Medway.

Local housing and planning authorities can also help to enabledevelopment on sites in Kent where delivery is now thought not to beviable. Where sites have s.106 agreements agreed under morefavourable market conditions, authorities can consider whether theseagreements can be renegotiated, potentially with a lower affordablehousing requirement, on the basis that new housing is fully deliveredwithin a specified timeframe, such as two years. This would help to getdelivery happening now, increasing the supply of much need new homeswithout the need to find new sites.

The government has also sought to enable new small scale deliverythrough their Custom Build Homes Programme, which aims to supportmore custom home building and double the size of the sector over thenext decade. The Programme has made available £30m to support theprovision of short-term project finance for group custom build housingprojects, which will be administered by the HCA.

6. Regulatory Reform

It has become increasingly clear that the cost of housing construction inthe UK is added to significantly by compliance and regulation placedupon the construction industry. Initial estimates indicate that this mayincrease the cost per house by up to 25%.

A recent report by the Housing Forum, Rationalising Regulation forGrowth and Innovation, highlighted the overly complicated compliancerequirements and complex onerous procurement processes that areplaced on the construction industry and suggested that this could bestifling innovation in house-building.

The coalition government has already recognised this issue, committingin the 2011 Spending Review to reduce the burden of regulation on thehousebuilding industry by 2015. The government also launched a RedTape Challenge in January 2012 for the housing, planning andconstruction industries, aiming to eliminate existing unnecessary andburdensome regulation.

Cutting the cost of building by removing unnecessary regulation andcompliance could be a vital factor in getting planned housing projects inthe county underway. This may be achieved by reducing the cost ofenabling infrastructure, such as roads, or by cutting the cost of housingdevelopment direct.

“If we were only to reduce public sector construction costs by 15 per cent,that would result in annual savings, or additional investment, of £1 billion;and independent studies have suggested a one per cent reduction in theaverage cost of capital would result in an annual saving of £5 billion.” Lord Sassoon, Commercial Secretary to the Treasury

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Kent County Council (KCC) has already produced evidence that thecost of road building can be significantly reduced by undertakingconstruction locally. Now, working with several major internationalconstruction companies, KCC is developing a compelling case forchange in housebuilding, compiling evidence to define unnecessary orexcessive compliance costs associated with delivering new constructionprojects.

Areas to be investigated include specifications, planning, procurementand standardisation, together with the more direct burdens ofemployment and other legislation.

Working with the South East Local Enterprise Partnership, KCCwill develop and share this evidence with Ministers to make the case forfurther change.

RECOMMENDATION: Kent County Council and KentDevelopers Group to engage with government throughmechanisms such as the Red Tape Challenge to reduce theunnecessary burden of regulation in the housebuildingindustry.

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Theme 2: Place-making and RegenerationOur Ambition: The continued regeneration of ourdisadvantaged neighbourhoods to bring them in line withmore affluent parts of the County.

1. Context

Despite significant infrastructure investment in recent years, Kent andMedway continue to lag behind the rest of the South East in manyeconomic indicators.

Incorporating communities on the edge of London, isolated ruralsettlements, coastal towns and major urban centres, Kent, includingMedway, is highly diverse.

This diversity is visible in social and economic indicators and Kent andMedway averages mask considerable divergences in wealth, educationalattainment, access to services and life chances across districts andboroughs.

Figure 6 illustrates disadvantage at local level, as measured by thegovernment’s Index of Multiple Deprivation. While the overall pictureshows generally higher levels of disadvantage in the east of the County,it also shows there are localised concentrations of disadvantagethroughout Kent and Medway, in both urban and rural areas.

Figure 7: Disadvantage in Kent and Medway using national comparisons

Source: Index of Multiple Deprivation 2010, Communications and Local Government (CLG)

While Kent and Medway face major issues over the coming years, thearea has major opportunities for regeneration and development.

Close proximity to one of the world’s largest commercial and culturalcentres means easy access to employment opportunities in London,especially for residents of North and West Kent, and it also providesaccess to London markets for Kent businesses. As a gateway tomainland Europe, with Europe’s largest passenger port at Dover, Kent isalso well placed as a business location.

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These locational advantages are assisted by excellent rail connectionsto the Continent, and have been further enhanced with the opening ofdomestic high speed rail services. The potential expansion of localairports could also present opportunities to improve the area’sconnections with the rest of the world.

Kent and Medway already contain some of the country’s largestregeneration initiatives, combining housing and employment growth.These include Thames Gateway, Kent Thameside and Ashford.

Whilst meeting regeneration objectives, we also need to ensure wecontinue to support high-performing areas within the Kent and Medwayeconomy, where housing has been delivered and ensure that this isfostered for the future.

A key part of regeneration is giving areas a sense of place andcommunity. Well-designed, well-built homes that fit in with thesurrounding area help to give a place a single identity.

The natural and historic environments surrounding our homes are alsoimportant in helping to give a sense of place and identity to ourcommunities.

Quality plays a major role in ensuring the regeneration of ourdisadvantaged areas. The quality of the homes we live in is not onlyimportant aesthetically but can greatly impact on our well-being. Poorquality housing can cause health problems for occupiers anddramatically lower life expectancy.

Economic difficulties faced by the public and private sectors alike haveprompted short term imperatives in the quality of new design, cuttingcorners to meet viability or to secure activity.

The price for creating substandard places is that the housing will have amuch shorter lifespan than it should and not offer the quality of life thatcommunities should expect. Poor housing will also hinder investment.

2. Creating successful communities

Good development is about more than bricks and mortar. A thriving,successful, happy community is a place where people want to live andwork both now and in the future. In recognition of this, Kent HousingGroup has updated its Creating Successful Communities Protocol,which highlights and encourages the importance of creating suchcommunities in Kent and Medway.

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“Our responsibility is to make our communities work well. We mustensure that everyone feels included and valued and can willinglyaccept their responsibilities and contribute to making theircommunities a safer and better place. Ultimately it is the building ofself-generating capacity and responsibility from within communitiesthat will create places with a sense of belonging and neighbourhoodsthat are friendly, safe and attractive” Lord Sandy Bruce-Lockhart

The Protocol’s core purpose is to ensure that future housingdevelopments within Kent meet the objective of creating long-lastingsuccessful communities, with a mix of tenure, income levels and household types, supported through appropriateinfrastructure and community development initiatives and resources.

It contains guidance applicable to developments of all sizes andpromotes the use of local lettings plans as a means of ensuring longerterm successful communities.

The Localism Act places a new requirement on local housing authoritiesto prepare tenancy strategies, setting out the types of tenancies thatthey grant, the circumstances in which they will grant them, the lengththey will grant them for and the circumstances under which they willgrant a further tenancy when an existing one ends. These will need tobe in place by January 2013.

Private registered providers operating in the local housing authority’slocal area must have “regard to” the authority’s tenancy strategy whencarrying out its housing management functions, however they are notlegally bound to follow the direction set out in the tenancy strategy.

Many private registered providers operate across a number of Districtsand Boroughs within Kent, as well as Medway. Trying to adhere to 13different tenancy strategies will be overly complicated and impracticalfor such organisations.

In addition, it is estimated that 15% of the 4,000 new affordable homesexpected to be built in Kent and Medway by 2015 are related to firmsites. The rest are “indicative bids” able to be built anywhere withinKent.

Local housing authorities will develop their own tenancy strategies,setting out their local priorities. However, a co-ordinated cross-Countystrategic approach to tenancy strategies, developed from the bottom-upby local housing authorities, would provide clarity and certainty toprivate registered providers operating in Kent and Medway. It wouldalso help to ensure that Affordable Homes Programme monies areinvested in Kent and Medway and enable delivery of new affordablehomes effectively across the County.

Such an approach would consider the core terms of a tenancy strategy,leaving scope for local variation by individual local housing authorities.

RECOMMENDATION: Kent Housing Group to promote aCounty-wide common framework for tenancy strategies, to beused to inform the development of local housing strategiesacross Kent and Medway.

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Case Study 4 – Sherwood Regeneration, Tunbridge

Town and Country Housing Group(TCHG) Housing Association areundertaking the complete regenerationof the Greggs Wood Road part of theSherwood Estate in Tunbridge Wells.

The area currently consists of 176outmoded two-bed flats, use run-down and inadequate facilities andresidents receive poor quality services.

Through extensive engagement with the local community, includingresidents and community groups, TCHG developed the SherwoodVision to regenerate the area both physically and socially.

Residents expressed a clear desire through consultation to see thepoor quality flats on Greggs Wood Road demolished and to haveimproved access to local woodland.

TCHG have developed proposals in consultation with local residents todemolish the flats on Greggs Wood Road and re-place them with 275new homes; re-provide 3 retail units in the area; provide new housingfor older people; develop new open spaces and parkland and providesafe access points to Greggs Wood.

The first stage of the development has received planning permissionand a contractor is being appointed.

TCHG see this as template for all future developments in the way theyhave extensively consulted with local people, and responded to theirneeds and aspirations.

3. Housing-based regeneration

Housing has a key role to play in the delivery of regeneration andeconomic growth. Poor quality housing can blight an area, attractinganti-social behaviour and low level crime such as vandalism. Suchhousing can also have negative impacts on the health and quality of lifefor the people that live there.

Local authorities and private registered providers are working inpartnership to regenerate poor quality housing in disadvantaged areasand transform housing estates that are no longer fit for purpose, suchas the Sherwood Estate in Tunbridge Wells (see Case Study 4).

The construction industry has played a vital role in the UK’s economicgrowth in recent years. The government estimate that housing hasaccounted for 3% of GDP over the last decade and that every homebuilt creates two jobs.

The housing industry and the construction sector in particular, can playa vital role in providing apprenticeships for young people. Localauthorities should seek to find opportunities to promoteapprenticeships for local young people as part of public sector fundedregeneration projects such as Live Margate, the Margate HousingIntervention Programme (see Case Study 5).

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Figure 7 – The principles of good design

1. Achieving pride of place – making understandable, safe, pleasant and welcoming places; public spaces that provide enclosure, but are not gated or exclusive enclaves, open to all butwhere privacy is offered and respected. Where there are private outdoor areas (gardens and balconies) but also shared spaces such as squares, parks, gardens, playspaces, seating, providing shade, sunshine and shelter.

2. Places that are distinctive – with their own character, yet also belonging to their surroundings.

3. Well connected places easy to reach from the neighbouring town or village straightforward to navigate

4. A mix of uses and tenures that can foster a diverse and lively community, with scope for growth or change

5. Enduring and flexible places - well built, with good space standards inside and out, environmentally efficient and adaptable

4. Building a new generation of high quality homes

Homes should be built with good design principles in mind and beattractive, functional and enduring (see Figure 7).

Case Study 5 – Live Margate

Margate has an impressive heritage of fine buildings and a stunningseaside location. Yet at the heart of the town are communities that areamongst the most disadvantaged in the country.

Margate Central and Cliftonville West are two wards now dominatedby privately rented property. Once grand, large family houses close tothe seafront have been subdivided into multiple flats, which are mostlylet to people on Housing Benefit. Many of these properties are inpoor physical condition, offering a very low standard ofaccommodation to tenants.

Through the Live Margate Housing Intervention Programme, ThanetDistrict Council, Kent County Council and the Homes andCommunities Agency are working together to drive up the standard ofaccommodation within these two wards, reduce the high concentrationof disadvantaged people living in such a small area, encourageinvestment back into the area and ultimately re-balance the mix oftenure between rental and owner-occupier homes.

This model for delivering change could have widespread relevance toother towns in Kent with large amounts of older, private rented sectorhomes; and to coastal towns around the country. Funding in excess of £20 million has already been identified fromThanet District Council, Kent County Council, the Homes andCommunities Agency and the South East Local Enterprise Partnershipto progress the Live Margate initiative.

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Housing quality audits conducted on behalf of CABE (now part of theDesign Council) have highlighted the low quality of much housing builtin recent years and identified a number of common problems:

1 Poor internal space standards1 Lack of identity – a sameness resulting from a standardised product from national housebuilders, with routine designs of houses and flats on standard layouts, applied with scant regard to the lie of the land or local precedents

1 Inefficient use of land and materials, which often results in higher build costs, running costs and energy and water consumption

1 Housing isolated from the wider community and community facilities, with a high degree of car dependence and little integration with neighbouring centres.

Kent is a designated area of water stress and developers need to ensurethat they are mindful of the need to mitigate the impact of newdevelopment on water infrastructure. Water saving fittings need to beincorporated within new homes. Developments should accommodatethe management of surface water and a pragmatic approach is neededto capturing and recycling water locally.

Offsetting these challenges presents several opportunities to transformthe quality of housing in Kent and Medway. There is scope for a newvernacular: places and homes that are not half hearted copies from thepast, but which are anchored to the geology, landscape and traditions oftheir locality.

There is evidence across the County that developers and localauthorities are already beginning to embrace this ethos, and build highquality, efficient, modern homes that fit with, rather than fight against,their surroundings (see Case Study 6)

Case Study 6 – The Fishing Village, St Mary’s Island,Chatham Maritime

The Fishing Village sits within St Mary’s Island, formerly part of the 420acre Royal Naval Dockyard at Chatham. It is part of a much largerpublic and private sector investment at Chatham Maritime.

It was completed in 2004 and provides 151 homes spread betweenseven apartment blocks and about 50 houses.

The Village represents a newdeparture for St Mary’s Islandin terms of its design, with thelayout of homes to the streetsemulating the sense a villagethat has been built over aperiod of time. A strong senseof place is created byarchitecture that responds tothe maritime location, with areinterpretation of traditionalvernacular using traditional detailing, bold colours and steeply pitchedroofs that emulate a typical coastal settlement in Kent.

The development was awarded ‘Best Brownfield Development’ in 2005(National Homebuilder Design Awards) and achieved CABE’s ‘Buildingfor Life’ Silver standard.

Sustainability is a key feature of all the homes, with an emphasis onenergy efficiency and water conservation. All homes include solarpanels and rainwater harvesting and have been constructed fromtimber from sustainable forests.

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Developers should look to use new technologies in building design andconstruction to improve the performance of buildings and drivechanges to the appearance and character of housing, places andneighbourhoods. They should aim for high standards in design,environmental performance and sustainability, in particular regardingenergy and water efficiency – getting ahead of the Code for SustainableHomes to achieve efficient layouts and thinking beyond the site. Theyshould also look to use materials that are sourced locally, includingrecycled materials.

New homes should contain fit for purpose and future-proofedtechnology, particularly in rural areas where there are likely to begreater barriers to upgrades to infrastructure.

Case Study 7 – Chequers Inn, Lower Higham

The redevelopment of theChequers Inn site in LowerHigham in Rochester completedin December 2011and is asympathetic conversion of aformer public house into eightapartments for sale, five newhouses for sale and a terrace ofthree houses for rent and two for shared ownership.

Moat Homes and Red Admiral Homes worked closely with the localplanning authority to develop a high quality scheme in keeping with thelocal context, which still incorporated modern technologies to ensurethe properties were energy efficient. Photovoltaic panels were not ableto be installed due to the rural setting of the properties, but insteadthey incorporated an air source heat pump system, which has receivedvery good feedback from residents.

Local authorities can support innovation and the principles of mixedtenure, mixed uses and better masterplanning through adopting clearpolicies on design quality, following national best practice and usingtechniques such as characterisation to define local character. To raiseexpectations and facilitate the delivery of good design, local authoritiescan also apply good processes such as Design Reviews which throughthe South East Regional Design Panel provide independent expertappraisals on the quality of design proposals.

Design quality should not just be driven by professionals. Localauthorities should engage with the residents of new homes to help toassess where design has been successful and to help influence futuredesign (see Case Study 8).

RECOMMENDATION: The Kent Design Initiative to developand set up an active Kent-centric website, to continue topromote design quality and resource efficiency across Kentand Medway.

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Case Study 8 – Kent Highways Post-OccupationSurveys

Kent Highways Services undertake a programme of post-occupationdesign surveys, talking to the people who live in newbuild housing tounderstand what residents do and don’t like about the public realm inrecent housing developments. Set alongside professional assessments,the outcomes are intended to inform design guidance in Kent. It is theonly survey programme of its kind in the country.

Since August 2007, over 350 surveys have been conducted, primarilyon sites less than 10 years old. Key quality indicators are Friendliness,Safety, Attractiveness, Quality of Life and Fear of Crime. In addition,opinions and statistical data on parking are obtained. Cycle ownershipand use, along with non-car travel habits are included.

The survey outcomes constitute a growing evidence base for adoptedguidance on Quality Audits and Residential Parking. District councils arefully engaged, and many developers are aware of the survey work.

A key impact of the work has been to change attitudes towards theprovision of residential parking, having regard for the problems thatprevious approaches have caused. Parking impacts on street safety andhealth. Ashford Borough Council, in particular, has been proactive inresponding to dissatisfaction.

The surveys offer an insight into public opinion that can be built-uponthrough more focussed engagement. As the implications of Localismbecome more apparent, and with the National Planning PolicyFramework emphasising the need for good design in homebuilding, it isall the more important to understand what people do and don’t likeabout where they live, and to use it to shape places where people willbe living in the years ahead.

4. Designing in safety

Kent Fire and Rescue Service (KFRS) continue to promote thereduction of risk from fire or flooding in the built environment. Notonly is this an important part of controlling and reducing environmentalimpact, it can also support cost efficient and flexible design. The use ofnew techniques and the early engagement of KFRS at the design stagecan ensure that innovative design is considered and exploited. Forexample, building out fire risk through practical measures can removethe need for expensive fire resisting doors and compartments, givingcost and design options.

In working to reduce risk in the built environment, the service’sapproach is one of working in partnership and promoting good practicerather than taking a prescriptive or legislative route. This has deliveredsuccess and KFRS are looking to build on those successes.

Today people are living longer and can require help to remain safewithin their own home as they get older. The maintenance ofindependence into old age is an important part of housing design. Usingthe Lifetime Homes design standard can help to ensure that homesmeet the needs of the occupiers throughout their lives, reducing theimpact on public services. Part of KFRS’s approach will be to promoteunderstanding of the options available for making people safe and howthe most appropriate methods can be chosen and used.

Housing needs today are very different to those of the past fifty years.With changing demands come changing options. We are seeingincreases in the provision of houses in multiple occupation, the use ofmodern building techniques and increases in rental accommodation.We want to see a steady increase in housing and safety standards sothere are a range of good quality homes available on a variety oftenures.

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RECOMMEDATION: Kent Fire and Rescue Service, KentHousing Group and Joint Policy and Planning Board to work inpartnership to develop and implement the most cost effectiveway of protecting vulnerable households, and those who are atthe greatest risk from fire and promote higher standards inthe private rented sector.

People living in older properties or experiencing fuel poverty aregenerally at greater risk from fire. KFRS is keen to engage withdevelopers and designers to promote and support economically andenvironmentally innovative design that provides safe and sustainableaccommodation.

KFRS also recognise that there are considerable risks to the economicprosperity and business continuity of builders and developers during theconstruction phase of certain build types. Potentially there is more thatcould be done to reduce the risk in buildings, particularly whilst a houseis being built being. Kent Fire and Rescue are keen to work to reducethis risk further.

RECOMMENDATION: Kent Fire and Rescue Service and KentDevelopers Group to jointly identify ways of reducing fire risksduring construction.

Secured by Design (SBD) is an award scheme, run by the Association ofChief Police Officers, and supported by the government. It aims toencourage housing developments to design out crime, with a particularemphasis on burglary, at the planning stage. Applied by Kent Police, itassesses physical security, surveillance, access/egress, territoriality,management and maintenance of an estate. SBD is applied within theplanning framework, but does not align with current urban designguidance.

Kent Police, working with its partners, would like to build on theprinciples of SBD to develop new form of county-wide consistent‘designing out crime’ guidance, encouraging designers to consider designprevention in the formative stages, on how to establish the right level ofpermeability, mix of uses or tenure or connectivity with surroundingneighbourhoods.

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Theme 3: Affordability and Choice

Our Ambition: The provision of choice andaffordability in housing for the citizens of Kent andMedway, including rural communities, which meets theirneeds and aspirations.

1. Context

All citizens in Kent and Medway should have the opportunity to accessthe home of their choice. However, in the current climate, access andchoice in the housing market is more limited. The increase in houseprices over the last decade has outstripped wage inflation. This,combined with the restriction in available mortgage finance, has lefthome ownership out of the reach of many.

Affordability is a particularly acute problem in rural areas, with theaverage rural house price being substantially higher than the averageurban house price. Access to affordable private rented homes in ruralareas is also extremely low.

Current high deposit requirements have left many first time buyersunable to access owner occupation, which has caused stagnation acrossthe housing market.

The inability of many to access home ownership means that the rentalsector will play an increasingly important role in providing homes forthe citizens of Kent and Medway. People should be able to access highquality private rental property and have the choice to be able to movewith relative ease within the social and affordable rented sectors, orfrom rental into home ownership (see Case Study 9).

Case Study 9 – Shepway Settled Homes Initiative

Shepway District Council has worked with Town and Country HousingGroup (TCHG) to address the shortage of larger affordable familyhomes in the district and maximise the number of new affordablehomes delivered through the council’s own capital resources forhousing.

So far the partnership has delivered eight, three and four bedroomshomes for families in housing need. Shepway has provided grantresources of approximately £35,000 per property with the additionalresources being provided by Town and Country Housing Group(approximately £135k per property). The properties are owned andmanaged by TCHG.

Rent levels are linked to the local housing allowance for the district,however, should the circumstances of the households living in thehomes change, there is scope to convert the tenure to sharedownership in the future.

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2. Access to home ownership

Current restrictions on the availability of mortgage finance mean thatprevious options are no longer accessible to many people. This meansthat new and innovative solutions are needed to respond to the needsand aspirations of those currently unable to access home ownership.

As a consequence of the fall in house prices, there is growing interestfrom the private sector to invest in residential property and gainexposure to the private rented sector.

If authorities across Kent and Medway were to invest equity to supportbroadening housing choice across Kent, matched funding should besought from the private sector to increase the potential fund size andits impact.

The research supporting this Strategy identifies the existing average ageof a first time buyer (FTB) without support from the “Bank of Mum andDad” as being 37 and rising. It has been suggested by somecommentators that this is as high as 41 in parts of West Kent.

Large deposit requirements from mortgage lenders are thought to beone of the key hurdles preventing even high income FTBs from beingable to access home ownership. Deposit requirements of 20 – 25% arecommonplace, which in Kent would equate to between £28K and £55K,depending on the type of property purchased. Increasing rental pricesand low wage inflation have made it harder for FTBs to save such largeamounts. Some higher LTV mortgage products are available, howeverthese tend to have high interest rates attached making them lessaffordable.

Government co-ownership schemes such as HomeBuy and FirstBuy, anequity loan scheme where the FTB purchases 80% of a property with a5% deposit and the developer and the HCA own the remaining 20%,enable FTBs to get a step on the housing ladder by purchasing a sharein a property and then progressing to full ownership as theircircumstances improve (see Case Study 10).

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The coalition government’s recently announced NewBuy scheme willenable FTBs to buy newbuild properties on a full share basis, with a 5%deposit. The mortgage they take out however, will be priced as thoughthey had a 25% deposit, giving them access to better mortgage rates.The additional 20% deposit will be underwritten by the government andhousebuilders, to cover any potential defaults.

These government schemes are aimed at enabling FTBs to purchasenewbuild homes. They have the double benefit of enabling FTBs toaccess home ownership and of supporting the housebuilding andconstruction industries, which are vital to our economic growth.

However, newbuild properties are not for everyone. FTBs should have achoice in the type of property they can purchase, either newbuild orexisting homes.

Kent and Medway local authorities have been in discussions with SectorTreasury Services and a number of mortgage lenders to develop aCounty-wide Local Authority Mortgage Scheme (LAMS) to assist FTBsin Kent and Medway to buy their first home. LAMS works on a similarbasis to NewBuy, in that the FTB only has to provide a 5% deposit, with20% being underwritten by the local authority. The FTB is then able toaccess a mortgage priced as if they had a 25% deposit, at moreaffordable rates.

The key difference with LAMS would be that the FTB would be able tochoose to purchase an existing property. Lloyds TSB estimate that forevery FTB transaction a further 5 transactions occur within the market.Purchases made under this scheme should therefore help to stimulatethe wider Kent and Medway housing market and unblock some of theexisting stagnation.

HomeBuy is a government-funded initiative designed to help first timebuyers (FTBs) who are over 18, have an annual household income ofless than £60,000 and cannot afford to buy a home suitable for theirneeds on the open market get a foot on the property ladder.

FTBs in Kent and Medway interested in HomeBuy apply to Moat, whichis the government appointed Local HomeBuy Agent for Essex, Kent andSussex. Moat guide the FTB through the options available and explaineligibility and affordability criteria.

Moat works closely with the Local Authorities in Kent and Medway,Housing Providers and other representative groups to make sure thatHomeBuy is accessible to those that could be eligible. Priority forHomeBuy is given to people who are housing association or counciltenants and serving military personnel.

There are currently two types of HomeBuy schemes to help peoplebuy a home, an ‘equity loan’, where a FTB gets a loan towards thehome’s purchase price and ‘shared ownership’, where the FTB buys ashare of their home and pays rent on the remaining share. With bothtypes of scheme, FTBs can over a period of time pay more money andown the property outright.

HomeBuy is very popular with over 4,000 potential purchasersregistered in Kent and Medway. The HomeBuy schemes have been atremendous success, in the ten years between 2001-02 and 2010-11over 20* per cent of all HomeBuy homes sold in England were in theSouth East.

Case Study 10 – Home Buy

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RECOMMENDATION: Kent local authorities to develop aCounty-wide Local Authority Mortgage Scheme to assist firsttime buyers in Kent and Medway to access home ownership.

3. Impact of welfare reform

The introduction of the government’s welfare reforms, changes toHousing Benefit and the introduction of Universal Credit have thepotential to have significant impacts on the housing markets within Kentand Medway.

3.1. Housing Benefit

There are a number of changes to housing benefit which have recentlycome into force and which may have unintended adverse consequenceswithin Kent and Medway.

The Local Housing Allowance (LHA) has been set at the 30th percentileof market rents rather than the 50th percentile (median average). Thiscould mean that households receiving Local Housing Allowance to rentwithin the private sector may have to find extra resources to be able toafford to rent within Kent and Medway, unless they are able to findproperties priced well below average levels. Properties priced at orbelow LHA are likely to be in short supply in some parts of Kent andMedway, leading to benefit dependent households being forced to moveto where properties are cheaper.

Local Housing Allowance has also been capped dependent on the typeof property lived in, with the maximum amount available being £400 aweek for a 4 bedroom house (the largest property size allowed). Families living in larger properties or more expensive areas such as

The government’s Equality Impact Assessment suggests larger familieswith children will lose out compared to the current system, which maymean they can afford to spend less on housing costs. These householdsmay decide to move out of more expensive areas within Kent andMedway. A particular risk for North and East Kent authorities, given theexisting flow of vulnerable households from London, is that migration ofhouseholds on housing benefit will expand in scale, putting pressure onhousing and services within these areas.

Some households may decide to live in over-crowded or poorcondition housing as a means of reducing their housing bill. This couldhave knock-on impacts for children in these households as the effect ofovercrowded and poor condition housing on health and educationoutcomes is well researched.

If households see their overall budget reduced they will be forced tomake decisions about what to prioritise spending their money on. Notall will choose to pay their rent first and this may lead to increases inarrears and ultimately homelessness, with additional pressures on sociallandlords and housing authorities with responsibilities in these areasand the prospect of greater use of temporary accommodation.

One unknown impact is the extent to which a cap will reinforce a twotier affordable housing system where households in the private rentedsector struggle to pay their rents as their entitlement falls whilst thosein the social rented sector, who enjoy significantly lower rents, are ableto live within their means. If this occurs, it might increase pressure onlocal authority waiting lists as households try to secure social rentedaccommodation. It could also provide a significant incentive to remain insocial rented housing once tenants have secured accommodation. Thiseffect could reduce turnover within the stock of social rented homesand constrain local authorities’ ability to meet priority housing need.

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London and parts of Kent may end up priced out of their local marketand may have to move to parts of the County where rental prices arecheaper.

The LHA single room allowance has been extended to those aged up to35. Those aged 25-35 and captured by this change may need to findadditional resources to afford suitable accommodation. The allowancethese individuals are entitled to may not cover the rent on their existingaccommodation. Some may be forced to live with parents, friends orfamily rather than finding independent accommodation. Others may nothave this option and may end up in poor condition properties, have toshare with strangers, move to find cheaper accommodation or couldeven end up homeless.

There are some concerns within areas of Kent close to London andthose with lower rental prices about the unintended consequences ofthese reforms. Movement of households on housing benefit betweenthe Kent and Medway authorities and from London to parts Kent toaccess cheaper housing is already a phenomenon. These changes tohousing benefit are likely to exacerbate existing movements.

3.2. Universal Credit

The introduction of Universal Credit, planned for 2013, aims to bringtogether income support benefits for working age people, including forhousing, into a single payment that is based on their overall needs. Universal Credit will be paid direct to benefit recipients in the form of amonthly credit. Recipients will then have to manage and budget for all oftheir outgoings from this one amount, including their housing costs.There are likely to be transitional issues for those used to having theirhousing benefit paid directly to landlords. This covers the majority ofthose who live in the social rented sector and receive housing benefit.

This will represent a major change for some households in the socialrented sector, many of whom are long standing tenants who have neverhad to manage paying their rent before.

3.3. Benefit cap

The Welfare Reform Act will also introduce a cap on the total amount ahousehold can receive in benefits, proposed to be introduced in 2013.This will mean that benefit payments will be capped so that householdsdo not receive more in benefits than the average working householdearns.

The introduction of the cap is likely to have a number of impacts on theaffordability of housing in Kent and Medway.

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RECOMMENDATION: Kent Forum, through Ambition Board2, to monitor and respond to the potential impacts on Kentand Medway from the unintended consequences of welfarereform.

4. Affordable housing

The affordable housing landscape has significantly changed with theintroduction of the new affordable rent tenure.

Like social rented housing, affordable rent is intended to be for peoplein housing need on local authority waiting lists. The difference is thatlandlords will be able to offer Affordable Rented properties on flexibletenancies, charged at up to 80% of market rents.

Affordable Rents set at 80% of market rents may not be affordable tothe majority of those in housing need unless households are expectedto spend significantly more than a third of their income on rental costs.In some areas Affordable Rent properties at 80% of market rents wouldnot be affordable even if the household was entitled to the full amountof Local Housing Allowance (housing benefit). This is particularly true oflarger properties and therefore a challenge for meeting the needs offamilies. In practice, to be affordable to those in housing need,Affordable Rents will need to be set substantially lower than 80% ofmarket rents, especially on 3 and 4 bed properties.

Generally it is those in employment, not reliant on benefits and those inlower priority need that are better able to afford to pay higher rents.This could be advantageous to authorities wishing to give greaterpriority to working households.

Affordable Rent may therefore not address the needs of those at thetop of the waiting list unless rents are reduced sufficiently to reflecttheir incomes; or unless something can be done to move those who canafford other tenures out of social rented accommodation and releasehomes for those in greater need. There is a risk that lower priorityhouseholds with greater resources may secure affordable housingbefore those in greater need. Conversely, local authorities may have toresort to greater use of temporary accommodation in order to housethose in greatest need if the supply of affordable properties isunsuitable.

Affordable Rent may affect the ability of local authorities to meethousing need. Much relies on Providers (local authority and privateregistered providers) setting rents at levels which are affordable andsustainable for those in priority housing need. The greatest risk is that itis going to make it more difficult to meet priority needs, especially oflarger households and it raises the prospect of increased use oftemporary housing, overcrowding and the knock on effects on childrenin these conditions.

The introduction of Affordable Rent has the potential to create agreater incentive to acquire or remain in social housing. AffordableRents could be double those of social rents in some parts of Kent andMedway for the same type and size of property whilst tenancies are lesssecure (albeit much more secure than in the open market). This will beespecially true once the Universal Credit is introduced, as tenantsreceiving benefits will have to manage their own budgets and the levelof rent they pay will directly impact on how much they have left forother needs. This could reduce movement out of the social rentedsector and limit the ability of Providers to convert homes to AffordableRent.

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The realities of the new Affordable Rent Framework require innovationand joint working between local housing authorities and privateregistered providers to respond to ever growing housing need andaspiration across the County. As no other form of government fundingis available to deliver new affordable housing, it is critical that the newaffordable rent homes are let in a way that responds to key localpriorities.

RECOMMENDATION: Kent Forum, through Ambition Board2, to monitor the use of affordable rent across Kent andMedway and the extent to which it responds to local housingneed.

5. Rural housing

85% of the land area of the County of Kent (including Medway) isclassed as rural. With around 1 in 3 of its 1.3m residents living in a ruralarea, compared to 1 in 5 nationally and 1 in 4 in the South East, Kenthas one of the largest rural populations of any county in England.

40% of the County’s businesses are also based within rural areas, withthe Kent rural economy estimated to be worth around £6.8billion.

Rural housing issues, therefore, tend to have a proportionately greaterimpact on Kent than many other counties – particularly when coupledwith the County’s proximity to London.

Recent trends have shown that Kent is moving towards an ageing ruralpopulation, with more middle age and fewer young people (15-29s) thanthe general population. Younger age groups and families are under-represented in rural communities and are being replaced by inwardmigration amongst older groups. This has implications for the continuedsustainability of local rural services and businesses, as well as for thecommunities themselves.

The key problem is one of affordability. Theaverage rural house price within Kentremains substantially higher than the averageurban house price, meaning that people livingin the rural parts of the County are unableto afford accommodation from the openmarket, i.e. through home ownership orprivate renting.

The availability of either affordable localneeds housing or private rented accommodation within rural areas isrelatively low. This means that there are few opportunities for peopleliving in the rural parts of the County to have their housing needs metlocally. The result is that many of these people will move away fromrural areas to places where housing is more affordable. This creates anumber of wider economic, social and environmental impacts, includinglower paid workers not being able to live locally, young people beingunable to set-up home close to their families and disproportionatenumbers of older people living within rural communities.

Problems of delivery have also helped to prevent the provision ofaffordable local needs rural housing. A lack of suitable sites orlandowners reluctant to release sites and often complex, intensive andcostly planning and highways requirements for rural developments,combined with dwindling public finance resources, are all commonbarriers to new housing provision. In addition, local public opposition to new development can either blockdevelopment completely or cause lengthy and costly delays.

The introduction of the Community Right to Build and NeighbourhoodPlanning is intended to enable development, but there is also a concernthat it could stifle development in rural areas where there is a lack ofinformation about the need for, and benefits of, affordable local needshousing to communities. The role of the Rural Housing Enabler Servicewill be critical to ensuring that this is not the case (see Case Study 11).

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Case Study 11 - Egret Court, Lower Halstow

In 2004, Lower HalstowParish Council, workingwith the Rural HousingEnabler, (RHE) decided theywould like to investigate thehousing needs of theircommunity. A survey wasundertaken by the RHE,which identified 9households in housingneed, 8 of whom lived inthe village at the time and 1 who had family living there.

A site search was undertaken by the RHE, English Rural HousingAssociation and members of the Parish Council and after lengthy andextensive consultation both locally and with planners and otherstatutory bodies, planning consent was granted in April 2008.

The development was completed in 2009 and comprises two 1-bedroom flats and four 2-bedroom houses, which are a mix of rentedand shared ownership. All homes meet the standards of the Code forSustainable Homes Level 3, Secured By Design, Lifetime Homes andBuilding for Life.

Importantly, a legal s106 agreement is in place to ensure that thehomes are only available to people who meet the local connectioncriteria and that they must remain so in perpetuity.

Joint working amongst key stakeholders is vital to ensuring that thesebarriers are broken and affordable local needs housing is delivered inthe rural areas where it is needed. This has already shown to be gainingreal results in Ashford, where Ashford Borough Council has developed a‘round table’ approach to facilitating the development of rural localneeds housing schemes in Ashford. This has been instrumental ingenerating higher levels of rural affordable local needs housing deliveryin Ashford (see Case Study 12).

Following a recommendation within the previous version of thisStrategy, Kent local authorities, landowners, developers, Kent Highways,English Rural Housing Association and the HCA jointly developed aRural Housing Protocol, Rural Homes: supporting Kent’s ruralcommunities, which aims to encourage a consistent, pragmatic approachto affordable rural local needs housing development across the County,to help to increase the delivery of such housing in rural areas andenable rural communities and businesses in Kent to thrive and prosper.

RECOMMENDATON: Kent Housing Group and the Kent RuralBoard to monitor the impact of the Rural Housing Protocolon the delivery of housing in rural areas across Kent andMedway.

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6. Delivering more choice in social housing

Research has shown that social housing tenants are far less mobile thanresidents living in other forms of tenure. The 2007 Hills Reportconcluded that ‘people can get locked into a particular property’ due toa lack of mobility, which can restrict opportunity and choice, particularlyin the labour market. This has been recognised by the government withtheir National Home Swap Scheme, which enables social rented tenantsfrom different parts of the country to exchange properties. There isalso an issue of under-occupation within social housing, with peopleremaining in family-sized houses after their children have grown up andleft home.

Kent Homechoice (see Case Study 13) encourages people to beproactive in considering their housing options, and helps break theculture of dependency. It can also help to relieve the issue of under-occupation within social housing, enabling people to downsize to asmaller property that better meets their needs.

Case Study 12 - Ashford Rural Roundtable

Ashford Borough Council (ABC) has actively worked with ParishCouncils to identify local housing needs and then develop smallschemes on exception sites to meet those needs.

A vital element has been ABC’s Rural Round Table; a quarterly meetinginvolving key stakeholders where the overall Borough rural programmeis reviewed. The round table is an important vehicle for resolvingplanning, highways and other issues throughout the planning andconstruction process.

It can identify any problems at an early stage and seek a proactive,joined up way to resolve them. This contributes to the development ofplans that are supported by planning and highways before theirsubmission for planning consent.

Membership includes Housing, Planning and Legal representatives fromABC; Kent Highways officers and partner Housing Associations workingon rural schemes.

This approach has led to the delivery of 341 local needs homes onexception sites in 21 parishes, with a further 2 schemes (of four andfive homes) in the pipeline and several parishes actively seekingpossible sites for a local needs scheme.

Several parishes have also been so pleased with the outcomes of theirscheme that they have gone on to develop further schemes in theirvillages.

The Rural Round Table demonstrates how partnership working froman early stage can achieve significant results and supports the directionand collaboration endorsed by the Kent Housing Group Rural HousingProtocol.

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Case Study 13 - Kent Homechoice

Roll-out of the Kent Homechoice scheme to all the Council areas inKent began in July 2008 with Canterbury and Thanet councils, andcompleted in May 2010 with Medway Council.

Kent Homechoice provides a comprehensive choice based lettingsservice to all housing applicants in Kent, allowing them to express aninterest on available homes by a variety of methods, including throughthe internet.

The scheme has been a tremendous success, bringing councils, housingassociations, landlords and strategic partners together to provide a highquality transparent service to the people of Kent. It is the largestChoice Based Lettings scheme in the UK, with 14 participating councilsand 24 housing associations as full partners and has attracted £222,000of Government funds to set up and expand the scheme.

So far, it has advertised over 28,000 vacant homes and received 1.1million bids from customers with over 90% of bids received via theHomechoice website.

The service is continuously improving with customers now able toadvertise exchanges through the scheme.

6.1. Right to Buy

The English Housing Strategy set out the government’s intention to“significantly extend” the Right to Buy (RTB) scheme, potentially todiscount levels of 50%. The government have recently announced thatthe existing caps on RTB discounts are going to be nearly doubled,increasing from £38K to £75K.

The government has committed to replacing each home sold underRTB with a new affordable home. Such homes will be replaced by newaffordable rent properties let at 80% of market rents on fixed termtenancies and will therefore not be replaced on a like for like basis.

Given the level of house prices in Kent, particularly in some areas, it isnot thought that there will be a large take-up of RTB by existing socialhousing tenants.

Concerns have been expressed by the Kent Rural Board that any futurechanges to the Right to Buy may have an adverse impact on theprotected status of affordable local needs housing in rural communities.

The impact of Right to Buy will have to be carefully monitored as alarge number of tenants exercising their RTB would cause a depletionof homes available across the County at social rents.

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7. Expanding the private rented sector

Over recent years the private rented sector (PRS) has seen substantialgrowth. According to the English Housing Survey, in 2010-11, thenumber of households in the private rented was nearly equally to thenumber in the social sector, at 3.6m and 3.8m respectively. It is expectthat over the next few years this gap will narrow even further, with thenumber of private rented sector households even potentially surpassingthe number of those in the social sector.

In particular, the importance and size of the PRS sector is likely tocontinue to grow over the coming years as more people find it difficult,or choose not, to access the home ownership market. The age of theaverage first time buyer is 37 and rising and the research supporting thisStrategy indicates that owner occupation has potentially reached itslimits at possibly 70% across Kent.

The provisions within the Localism Act for local authorities to be ableto discharge their homelessness duty by offering suitable private rentedaccommodation and the introduction of fixed term tenancies under theAffordable Rent Framework are also likely to increase the numbers ofpeople living within private sector housing.

The private rented sector will therefore have an increasingly importantrole to play in offering choice and access to affordable housing for boththe most vulnerable in society and those “young professionals” whowould traditionally have become homeowners in the past.

There is significant interest, from both the private and public sector, inthe establishment of an institutionally-funded PRS in England. The keyissue in attracting institutional (and sizeable private) equity is one ofscale. The objective is to secure a sector that eventually becomes a

bespoke asset class within which investors are willing to invest in thesame way that they do with other property asset classes.

Some progress is starting to be made on this. In October 2011,Bouygues and Grainger announced a “Build to Let” fund to giveinvestors the opportunity to invest in the PRS on a large scale. TheHomes and Communities Agency (HCA) have also been looking at thepotential for marketing sites specifically for rental. Within Kent andMedway, the HCA has provided funding to two sites, Holborough Lakesand Victory Pier, to support new homes for rent and seek to attractinstitutional investment.

7.1. What are the benefits of facilitating growth of this sector?

The benefits of assisting the growth of this sector include:

1 Offering greater mobility of employment through people being able to move home more easily

1 Supporting tenure diversification1 Providing choice to people1 Accelerating and increasing the delivery of new homes

The government has recognised the growing importance of the privaterented sector within the English Housing Strategy and indicated itssupport for further investment to grow the sector. An independentreview lead by Sir Adrian Montague has been commissioned to examinethe barriers to investment in the private rented sector.

The potential for growth of the sector and institutional interest ininvestment provide an opportunity for public sector organisations todevelop models for working in partnership with developers andinvestors to facilitate the delivery of new private rented homes.

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For example, a public sector organisation could consider contributingland as equity into the model, deferring its land receipt until disposal ofthe private rented sector fund and potentially sharing in rental returns.

There is considerable potential for a rental fund to work in conjunctionwith other regeneration, housing renewal or affordable housing models.

Figure 8 – Where would private rented accommodation be most likely tobe successful?

1. Site needs to be capable of supporting at least 100 rented homes. Could be part of a significantly greater mixed tenure site.

2. Site must be to close to a major transport hub, with good access to the nearest town or city and close to community services.

3. Houses prices need to be mid-range, but rental market needs to be robust.

4. Site must support a range of different sized homes.

5. Place-making is key in establishing a location where there is strong demand for the completed homes

RECOMMENDATION: Promote the establishment of asizeable institutional or private equity funded private rentedsector and identify sites across the County where such anapproach could be piloted.

7.2. Raising standards in the private rented sector

To reflect the anticipated expansion of thissector within Kent and Medway, localauthorities need to ensure that propertiesare maintained to a good standard and are indecent condition. The majority of poorcondition homes are found in the privatesector, which can have detrimental effects ontenants’ health and well-being.

Changes in housing benefit for under-35s isexpected to lead to a growth in the provisionof shared housing, or Houses of MultipleOccupation (HMOs), as benefit-dependentpeople under 35 will not be able to afford to rent a property on theirown. A HMO which consists of three or more storeys andIs occupied by five or more persons forming more than one householdmust be licensed by the local housing authority and landlords needs toensure that such properties are properly managed and maintained.Clusters of HMOs within a small geographical area can bring their ownunique challenges and can have a detrimental effect on the localenvironment if not managed carefully (see Case Study 14). Where localauthorities are unable to engage with landlords, they may consider amore direct action enforcement approach such as has been undertakenin parts of Margate (See Case Study 15).

Figure 8 – Where would private rented accomodation be most likely to be successful?

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Case Study 14 - HMO Landlord Engagement,Ashford

Ashford Borough Council have recognised the need to ensure thatthere is a sufficient supply of well managed HMO’s for single people inview of the changes to single room rate benefit rules restricting thoseunder 35 years old to shared accommodation.

There is a tension about the growth of this type of accommodationand the impact that it may have on the surrounding community withthe potential for increased anti-social behaviour.

Ashford is piloting an approach where they have entered into a threeway agreement with a private landlord and property owner andPorchlight who runs projects for single homeless people. The Councilhas leased the HMO property, which has been brought up to relevantHMO standards by the owner, and has entered into a managementagreement with Porchlight to provide the management of the HMOfunded by housing benefit income.

This is intended to supply much needed move on accommodation forthose who are ready for independent living or for those who do notneed supported housing but are under threat of homelessness. Thescheme will be piloted for one year and evaluated following this and ifsuccessful may be expanded.

Case Study 15 - Selective Licencing, Margate

In 2011, Thanet District Council introduced a selective licensing schemefor certain areas within the two wards of Cliftonville West and MargateCentral.

These wards are two of the most deprived wards in the country, withhigh levels of poverty, high unemployment and a transient population.The selective licensing area is dominated by a large concentration ofbadly maintained privately rented properties, which provide poor livingconditions for tenants as well as helping to attract, low-level crime andanti-social behaviour to the area.

Under the scheme, all privately rented residential property in thedesignated area must have a licence, issued by the District Council. Toobtain a licence, the property must comply with certain health andsafety standards, be in reasonable condition and the landlord mustensure that the tenants (and their visitors) do not engage in anti-socialbehaviour.

It is important that landlord and letting agents understand theirresponsibilities towards their tenants and obligations to maintain theirproperties to a decent standard. Local authority engagement throughlandlord fora is crucial in supporting private sector landlords tounderstand their responsibilities and manage their properties effectively.Landlord accreditation schemes have been set up across the County,providing advice to landlords to try and help improve housingconditions and raise standards across the sector (see Case Study 16).

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Case Study 16 - Private Accredited Letting Scheme

Sevenoaks District Council,Tunbridge Wells BoroughCouncil and Ashford BoroughCouncil are keen to increasethe supply of decent and well-managed privately rentedhomes and improve on theavailability of safe, warm homesfor tenants to live in.

The Private Accredited Letting Scheme (PAL) has been developed toencourage and support the many good landlords who already operatein the borough and also to assist others in attaining the same goodstandards.

The Scheme is free for any landlord wishing to join and aims toimprove the standard of private sector rental accommodation.

Landlords can benefit from training and financial assistance forimprovement works, such as replacing old boilers and heaters withnew energy efficient units, and measures to prevent entry by intruders.

Through PAL, a property in Edenbridge which was suffering fromexcess cold, condensation and mould growth received improvementsto the heating system and insulation, which has made the propertywarm and comfortable and the tenant is delighted with the results.

image courtesy of fotolia

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RECOMMENDATION: The Kent Private Sector HousingGroup to promote the use of accreditation for landlords andlettings agents across Kent and Medway.

It is equally important that tenants understand their responsibilities andtheir obligations to pay their rent and take reasonable care of theirrented homes.

The ability for local housing authorities to discharge their homelessnessduty into the private rented sector could see an increase in the numberof vulnerable people entering the private rented sector, potentially forthe first time.

Community Learning and Skills and supported by the NationalLandlords’ Association, has developed a tenancy induction programme,based on the JPPB Move on Toolkit, aimed at helping such tenantsobtain and sustain their tenancies. This has been successfully piloted inMaidstone, Ashford and Dover and work is underway to consider howto roll this out in other parts of the County.

RECOMMENDATION: Kent Private Sector Housing Groupand Kent Housing Options Group to promote the use oftenancy training for vulnerable tenants in the private rentedsector.

With a buoyant market amongst professional working tenants, localauthorities are likely to find it harder to place vulnerable householdswithin the private rented sector. This is especially important, given thenew ability for authorities to discharge their homelessness duty withinthe private rented sector. Local authorities could find themselves havingto use costly forms of temporary accommodation, such as bed andbreakfast to house homeless households.

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To encourage private sector landlords to house homeless households,some local authorities in Kent, such as Ashford Borough Council, aredeveloping their own in-house social lettings agencies. These agenciesallocate an appropriate property to a particular homeless householdand deal with all the letting and management aspects of the tenancy onbehalf of the landlord. Some agencies offer incentives to landlords toencourage them to let their properties to homeless people, includingguarantees for any damage and for a proportion of the rent. Suchschemes are also offered by some private registered providers (seeCase Study 17).

Case Study 17 - Avenue Lettings

Ashford Borough Council have recognised the need to ensure thatthere is a sufficient supply of well managed HMO’s for single people inview of the changes to single room rate benefit rules restricting thoseunder 35 years old to shared accommodation.

There is a tension about the growth of this type of accommodationand the impact that it may have on the surrounding community withthe potential for increased anti-social behaviour.

Ashford is piloting an approach where they have entered into a threeway agreement with a private landlord and property owner andPorchlight who runs projects for single homeless people. The Councilhas leased the HMO property, which has been brought up to relevantHMO standards by the owner, and has entered into a managementagreement with Porchlight to provide the management of the HMOfunded by housing benefit income.

This is intended to supply much needed move on accommodation forthose who are ready for independent living or for those who do notneed supported housing but are under threat of homelessness. Thescheme will be piloted for one year and evaluated following this and ifsuccessful may be expanded.

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Theme 4: Housing Renewal

Our Ambition: The managed improvement andretrofit of existing homes to make them fit for now andthe future.

1. Context

Improving the condition and efficiency of our existing homes is asignificant issue.

It is suggested that around 80% of the houses that people will be livingin by 2050 are already in existence. Many of these, particularly in EastKent and Tunbridge Wells, are in poor condition and can be significantcontributors to the poor health and well-being of the occupants.

Some also remain as long term empty properties, providing a blight onthe local community through their appearance and their ability toattract anti-social behaviour and vandalism.

A large proportion of existing homes are poorly insulated, water andenergy inefficient, leading to higher than necessary fuel and water billsfor Kent and Medway residents and higher carbon emissions across thearea. Improving the efficiency of existing homes could also help to putmoney back in the pockets of Kent and Medway residents.

Non-efficient homes contribute greatly to overall carbon emissions. It isestimated that 28% of Kent’s CO2 emissions during 2009 came fromthe domestic sector. Housing must be resilient to the changes and therisks posed by climate change, particularly flood and heat damage. This

is not only for protection of property, but for the health and well-beingof the householders themselves.

Water is a scarce and often over-committed resource and Kent, likemuch of the South East, has low rainfall, and is a designated area ofwater stress. It is already in a similar category to southern Italy andMalta in terms of water abstracted as a proportion of effective rainfall,making the county very vulnerable to droughts. By 2050 the flows insome of the County’s rivers could decline by at least 35% as a result ofclimate change, this would reduce their capacity to accept wastewatereffluent and couldundermine efforts toimprove river waterquality. The publicwater supply systemalready accounts for85% of all waterabstractions from theKent environment,most of this water isfor domestic supplyand population growthwill further add to thisdemand. We mustbecome a lot moreefficient at using waterin the future.

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2. Improving the condition of existing homes

The majority of poor condition housing in Kent is found within theprivate sector in both the private rented and owner occupier sector.The latter in particular is likely to become growing problem as thepopulation ages and more and more elderly people find themselvesliving in properties that they are unable to properly maintain.

Across Kent and Medway as a whole, around a fifth of private sectorproperties have one or more Category 1 hazard, as defined by theHousing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS), with the mostcommon being related to falls and the cold, and are therefore in acondition that could pose a risk to the health and safety of theoccupiers.

The introduction of the HHSRS by the Housing Act 2004 has allowedlocal housing authorities to deal with poor conditions within the privatesector on a risk basis considering the impact of the property on theoccupier’s health, safety and welfare.

Use of the Housing Act powers alone is unlikely to deal with the poorconditions of properties. Previous grant and loan schemes only managedto scratch the surface and the recent loss of resources to support thiswork, such as the removal of the Regional Housing Board, has made thetask even harder. Local authorities need to consider how they canaccess sources of public funding to continue to deal with poorconditions in private sector homes.

Poor conditions in the private rented sector in particular can often beleft untreated, with tenants, many of whom are vulnerable, unable orunwilling to either tackle the landlord direct or engage with the local

authority to deal with issues such as damp or excessive cold. Wherethey are made aware of poor conditions in privately rented homes, localauthorities can employ a variety of both informal and formalapproaches to landlords to make the necessary improvements to theproperties (see Case Study 18).

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Case Study 18 - Dealing with housing conditions inTonbridge and Malling

Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council (TMBC) have undertaken bothinformal and formal approaches to dealing with poor condition in theprivate rented sector.

In one instance, a request from the TMBC’s Housing Needs team foran inspection of a property where a rent deposit was to be offered ledto a Private Sector Housing Officer finding Category 1 hazards underthe Housing, Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS). Informal liaisonwith the landlord of the property led to the installation of storageheaters, loft insulation, electrical improvements and mains wired smokealarms. The Housing Needs team were then able to proceed with therent deposit and a tenant moved into a warm and safe property.

In another instance, TMBC received a complaint from a tenant aboutthe condition of their rented home and that the landlord would notundertake any improvement works. An inspection by the PrivateSector Housing team identified a Category 1 hazard under the HHSRSfor electrical hazards. Informal contact with the landlord did not lead toany remedial works being carried out, so an Improvement Notice wastherefore served on the owner/landlord a property under section 11of the Housing Act 2004, which required works to the electrics. TheNotice period expired and no works were undertaken. As a resultTMBC undertook works in default and will recover the costs from theowner. In the meantime the property is now safe for the tenant tocontinue living there.

Some authorities have also taken steps to engage direct with localresidents to establish living conditions within their homes, as well asdirect individuals to local health services (see Case Study 19).

RECOMMENDATION: Kent Private Sector Housing Group toexplore options for improving housing conditions within theprivate rented sector.

Case Study 19 - Your Home, Your Health

In 2009, Thanet District Council (TDC) introduced a proactiveproperty inspection programme called Your Home, Your Health.

There are two main aims to this approach. The first is as a multi agencyreferral form to assist residents in accessing a number of services thatthey may not normally be aware of. These services range from finding adentist or a doctor, quitting smoking and healthy living advice, to benefitadvice and debt management, to accessing community groups andbefriending services.

The second aim is to collect information about the properties, thetenure, and the population. So far this has provided some usefulinformation, which has enabled TDC to direct services appropriately.

Your Home, Your Health runs in partnership with the NHS andservices across Kent County Council and TDC and has successfullylinked a number of residents to services that have improved theirhealth, safety and welfare.

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Partnership working to address poor condition, particularly with healthservices, is extremely important. Through HHSRS links between housingand health have become strengthened and a closer working relationshiphas developed with agencies such as the NHS.

However, this is not so in all areas of the County and one of thechallenges faced by authorities is the engagement of health services inhousing work. The changes to the Primary Care Trust structure and theintroduction of Care Commissioning Groups provide an opportunity tomaintain and strengthen these links further.

The links between good housing and health are becoming more widelyrecognised. Within the Kent Health Inequalities Action Plan, a smallnumber of actions to achieve the Plan’s objectives relate directly tohousing.

The Kent Private Sector Housing Group will look to ensure they helpdeliver the outcomes required to contribute to the success of this Planand take every opportunity to reinforce the importance of good quality,safe and decent housing in helping to improve the health and well-beingof all in Kent.

Tackling substandard private sector accommodation will make asignificant impact to the lives of their occupiers, particularly tenants,many of whom are vulnerable, by making their homes warmer, removinghazards and taking them out of fuel poverty.

RECOMMENDATION: Joint Policy and Planning Board topromote with the Health and Wellbeing Board the importanceof housing condition to quality of life and health outcomes andestablish stronger links and closer working relationships withhealth agencies.

3. Improving the efficiency of existing homes

There has traditionally been a very complicated funding landscape forenergy efficient home improvements and millions of pounds of fundingfor vulnerable Kent and Medway residents to retrofit homes has notbeing claimed. Take-up of this funding should continue to be made easierand simpler for Kent and Medway households before it comes to anend in December 2012.

In autumn 2012, the coalition government will launch the Green Dealand Energy Company Obligation, a new scheme being implementedthrough the Energy Act 2011. The Green Deal will establish a newfinance framework that will provide householders and businesses withthe upfront capital to carry out energy efficiency improvements to theirproperty, with the finance repaid through the savings made on theirenergy bill. The Green Deal will not only provide an opportunity totackle fuel poverty and significantly improve the energy efficiency oflocal homes, but with thousands of properties requiring insulation, theGreen Deal also offers an opportunity for the partnership to help driveeconomic growth, unlocking millions of pounds worth of investmentand supporting thousands of jobs.

The transition from the old system of subsidies for energy efficiencytechnologies to the new ‘pay as you save’ Green Deal, introduces agreat deal of uncertainty into the landscape, but also presents a massiveopportunity to significantly improve the energy efficiency of Kent andMedway homes and businesses. It will be crucial that water efficiency isalso incorporated into future retrofit programmes.

Partnership working will be key to exploiting these opportunities andthe establishment of a Kent and Medway Green Deal Partnership andlocal installer network is therefore an imperative.

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RECOMMENDATION: Radically simplify the energy and waterefficiency funding and support landscape for Kent and Medwayresidents and ensure partners, businesses and residents areprepared for the transition to the Green Deal.

Kent is already benefiting from a number of retrofitting pilot schemes,such as Ashford’s Savings at Home project and the Kent Retrofit projectwhich aim to road test the carbon reductions gained from communityretrofitting and look at how this can be scaled up across Kent.

Savings at Home developed from a pilot neighbourhood water efficiencyretrofit scheme, Savings on Tap, which trialled an installation mechanismfor high uptake of low impact, low cost, proven water saving deviceswithin a neighbourhood. The project has been successful and take-uprates of over 50% have been achieved in the trial neighbourhood.

Both projects look at how best to use public resources more efficientlyto maximise uptake of measures, and deliver energy and water savingsfor residents.

An area-based retrofitting project is also being developed byAmicusHorizon and Swale Borough Council for Queenborough andRushenden on the Isle of Sheppey (see Case Study 20).

Case Study 20 - Rushenden Retrofit

The Rushenden Retrofit project is a new approach to regeneration andthe environment, working with local residents in Rushenden across alltenures to make their homes more energy efficient through providingthem with a series of energy-saving measures.

This retrofit project is being delivered in partnership with Swale BoroughCouncil, AmicusHorizon, the Homes and Communities Agency, Institutefor Sustainability, IFORE and Artois University, and is the first of its kind inEngland to cover private and social homes of various construction types.

At a time when fuel poverty is being highlighted as a real issue theRushenden retrofit programme aims to reduce C02 emissions by 40%and household fuel bills for the residents.

Swale Borough Council is directly responsible for Phase One of theprogramme, which is funded through Climate Energy under thegovernment’s Community Energy Savings Programme (CESP), and hasdelivered retrofit measures including external and cavity wall installations,solar photovoltaic panel installation and property draught proofing, to 65private homes, achieving savings of around 10,000 carbon tonnes. Community engagement is an extremely important component of thisproject. The partners are continuously looking for opportunities tointegrate this project with other community projects to raise awareness ofthe green agenda. It is also an aspiration to engage local residents tobecome ‘energy champions’ in green behaviour with the ultimate goal toenable residents into employment.

The learning from this project has the potential to develop a NationalCode for Retrofit across tenures. A significant monitoring, measurementand evaluation programme has been funded by the HCA which is beingdelivered by the Institute for Sustainability.

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4. Bringing empty properties back into use

Empty properties constitute a wasted resource that could providehomes as well as reduce the pressure for new housing growth. Theyalso often have a negative impact on local neighbourhoods by theirvisual appearance, and a tendency to attract graffiti, vandalism, squattingand anti-social behaviour.

The coalition government has shown its support for bringing emptyproperties back into use through the £100m of funding it made availablein the Comprehensive Spending Review and the additional £50m offunding announced in the English Housing Strategy to tackle the worstconcentrations of empty properties. The government has alsoconfirmed that the New Homes Bonus will apply to long-term emptiesbrought back into use, as well as to newbuild properties.

Reducing the number of empty properties across Kent and Medwaycontributes to regeneration objectives, creating a virtuous circle bybringing people to live in town centres and thus acting as a catalyst forfurther investment in facilities such as restaurants, bars and shops.

Since 2005, around 2,126 empty properties have been returned to usethrough the No Use Empty (NUE) initiative (see Case Study 21). Totalinvestment to date is £17.2M which is a combination of NUE Loan Fundand public/private sector contributions

NUE will launch a new Affordable Homes Project during 2012 tocomplement the main initiative, to bring a minimum of 45 largerproperties back into use as much needed family homes, which has anoverall investment in the region of £3M working in partnership withDistricts and Boroughs and private registered providers. NUE hasreceived a fresh investment of £1.2m from KCC to provide upfrontworking capital for new projects coming forward whilst £795k wasawarded by the HCA in March 2012.

NUE continues to be innovative and has successfully helped othercouncils, such as Bristol City Council and the West of EnglandPartnership launch their own Empty Property Initiatives as well asproviding advice and guidance to UK governments and other localauthorities.

It is the ambition of local authorities across Kent and Medway to workin partnership to continue to deliver and maintain a reduction in thenumber of long term empty and derelict buildings – transforming theseinto homes for the people of Kent and Medway. Authorities have madereturning empty properties a key priority.

RECOMMENDATION: Encourage closer joint workingbetween No Use Empty, Districts and Boroughs and Medway,and continue to seek to attract new government funding tobring further empty properties back into use across Kent andMedway.

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Case Study 21 - No Use Empty

For more than a decade, three adjacent village homes located inSwanley stood empty causing problems for neighbours. However,following intervention from Sevenoaks District Council and No UseEmpty the properties have been transformed beyond recognition.

As with many long term empty properties, the homes attractedvermin and were a target for fly-tippers and vandals. Regrettably theowner refused to co-operate with the Council to improve and, as alast resort, it served an enforcement notice.

The notice required the owner to repair or demolish the propertiesotherwise the Council would carry out the works and recover thecosts. The action prompted the owner to sell the homes to Mr & MrsDenman, who opted to work with the Council.

As well as advice and support through the planning process, theCouncil and No Use Empty provided financial loans to the value of£105,000 on condition that the properties once renovated wereavailable to rent.

After a lot of hard work, the project is complete and providing muchneeded accommodation. Owner of the property, Donna Denman,said: “The No Use Empty Initiative has been invaluable to us as withoutit we would not have been able to progress the project as quickly aswe did.”

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Theme 5: Housing Need

Our Ambition:To support vulnerable people inhousing need to fulfil their potential and live a highquality life through the provision of excellent housingand support services.

1. Context

Good housing should meet the needs and aspirations of all Kent andMedway residents. Housing plays an important part in responding tothe diverse needs of particularly vulnerable people in Kent and Medway.Housing is critical to the health and well-being of vulnerable people.

Vulnerable people tend to need a wider range of types ofaccommodation to meet their needs and have a greater reliance onhousing support and advice services.

Taking a Kent and Medway-wide approach has been identified as animportant contributor to achieve better services and provide betterexperiences for those with complex housing needs.

KCC Families and Social Care (FSC) is undertaking a new AdultServices Transformation Programme, which will impact on housingprovision for vulnerable people. The new programme will require thedevelopment of housing solutions for vulnerable people as a continuumof care. FSC will develop and deliver an accommodation solutionsstrategy to support development of appropriately designed housing in

partnership to maximise the best use of resources and to deliverefficiencies.

This part of the Strategy has largely been developed in partnership withcolleagues involved in the Joint Policy and Planning Board for Housing(JPPB), Kent Housing Group, Kent Supporting People Programme andMedway colleagues.

2. Tackling homelessness

Across Kent and Medway each local housing authority has its ownstrategy to deal with homelessness, which supports delivery of thehomelessness prevention agenda.

The impacts of the economic crisis, unemployment and low wageinflation, combined with increasing living costs, have seen homelessnessservices across Kent come under increasing pressure.

Private rental costs have increased, making the sector difficult to accessfor low wage earners. There is potential for new affordable rentproperties to equally be priced at a level not easily affordable for lowincome households, which could lead to an increase in the use oftemporary accommodation to house those in need.

Provisions in the Localism Act to enable local housing authorities todischarge their homelessness duty into the private rented sector arewelcome. However, there are some concerns that the recent growth ofworking private sector tenants who are currently unable to accesshome ownership due to mortgage constraints will discourage privatector landlords from accepting homeless people as tenants.

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Equally, there is a potential for the government’s welfare reforms,particularly the introduction of Universal Credit and the benefit cap, toboth increase homelessness applications and act as barrier tovulnerable and low income households accessing the private rentedsector.

To deal with any potential rise in homelessness applications, localhousing authorities and specialist advisory organisations should worktogether to ensure that vulnerable people in need are adequatelyhoused.

RECOMMENDATION: Kent Housing Options Group tomonitor homelessness and the use of temporaryaccommodation across Kent and Medway and feedback togovernment any impacts arising from welfare reform.

3. Young people

Vulnerable young people should have access to a range of housing andsupport options in their local areas, which meet their housing, supportand development needs.

The Joint Policy and Planning Board for Housing (JPPB) recognises thatthere is still a lack of suitable accommodation options for vulnerableyoung people who present as homeless. However, progress has beenmade with the success of the Supporting People commissioning oftemporary housing for young people in the districts of Dover andTonbridge & Malling (see Case Study 22).

Case Study 22 – Housing Support for Young People

A 2007 review of short termaccommodation based servicesrecommended the commissioningof services for young people at riskin West Kent. Tonbridge and MallingBorough Council and RussetHomes (Circle) worked together toidentify a suitable site and securingadequate funding through theHomes & Communities Agency.Floating support was provided byKent Supporting People to youngpeople at risk during the building stage, and this was transferred to theaccommodation-based support through Porchlight when the servicecommenced in March 2011.

This wonderful building consists of spacious single accommodation flatsfor nine young people in Tonbridge Town Centre, and has communalspaces for meetings, training, and mutual support.

The scheme is proving to be a great success. With support providedby Porchlight’s dedicated team, a number of young people have alreadygained the skills and confidence to enable them to move on to theirown independent homes.

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The JPPB has been working closely with representatives and partners indelivering the training for the Kent Young Persons’ HomelessnessProtocol in order that 16 and 17 year olds have a consistency ofapproach in each District and Borough and that these vulnerable youngpeople are assessed for their needs other than accommodation toensure that they have a support network around them.

In order to improve outcomes for this group of young people, the JPPBare identifying how agencies can best use their resources to support 16and 17 year olds who are at risk of homelessness by improving on amanaged return to appropriate accommodation and reducing thenumber of young people going into temporary accommodation orbecoming looked after (see Case Study 23).

Case Study 23 – Dartford Young Person’sHomelessness Pilot

In 2010, Brent Council’s Children & Families Department and theHousing Department agreed to pilot a co-located multi agency teamto assess the needs of 16/17 year olds, with homeless prevention beinga focal point of activity.

Following a presentation from Brent Council, Dartford BoroughCouncil, Children’s Specialist Services (CSS) alongside the AdolescenceResource Centre, Dartford YMCA and Dartford Connexions agreedto initiate a pilot for Kent based on the Brent model for the Dartfordarea.

The primary objective is to keep 16/17 year olds living at home withtheir families or the person that has been the primary carer, toimprove their chances of employment, education, health and wellbeing.Since the pilot began in October 2011, no 16/17 has been placed intocostly and sometimes inappropriate nightly paid accommodation,instead most return home with the on-going support for them andtheir families from all of the agencies involved to enable them to doso.

Following on from the success of the pilot, the JPPB arranged aworkshop to take the pilot forward that was widely attended by bothCSS and housing alike.

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There is also an acknowledgement, that although the support needs ofthose amongst the youth offending population should not be seen asdistinct from those of all 16 / 17 year olds in the county who requiresupported accommodation, there is an urgency to ensure that when ayoung person is in custody but will be without an address on releasethat they are assessed by Social Workers from Specialist Children’sServices at a sufficiently early point in the sentence to enableaccommodation to be identified. Where this does not occur it can beunsettling for the young person, remove their eligibility to early releaseand makes planning of other services (for example, Education, Trainingand Employment, Health) difficult as it is not clear where in the Countythey may be living on release.

RECOMMENDATION: The JPPB to identify multi-agencyresources dedicated to the prevention of youth homelessnessand strengthening relationships with family and socialnetworks and the settlement of young offenders in order toprevent re-offending.

4. Physical Disability

With an ageing and increasing frail population across Kent and Medwayand new challenges presented by issues such as returning servicemenand women, the demand for disabled adaptations to people’s homes andsubsequently for Disabled Facilities Grants has been increasing year-on-year in recent years.

A Task and Finish Sub-Group of Kent Housing Group (KHG) was set upin 2009 to complete an assessment of the current range of approachesand policies across the private registered providers and local authoritiesoperating in Kent, with a view to reaching a local agreement(s) in Kenton the future funding of disabled adaptations for private registeredprovider tenants.

The Group proposed that a shared approach to the funding ofadaptations for private registered provider tenants should be tested inKent. To achieve this all local authorities and major private registeredproviders were asked to model the impact of such an approach on theirbudgets and expenditure over the last three years. As a result of thiswork a protocol across Kent and Medway was developed whichprovides a “level playing field” for private registered provider residentsrequiring adaptations to their homes.

While there has been considerable sign up to the protocol by localauthority and private registered provider partners in Kent and Medwaywork is ongoing to achieve endorsement by all.

The processes for administering disabled adaptations were previouslyset out in a joint approach document and the Group has also proposedthat this should be updated and republished, with a view to improvingtimescales for delivering adaptations across all tenures.

In a world of diminishing resources, local authorities also need toconsider innovative ways of funding disabled adaptations and make thelimited amount of funding available go further, see (Case Study 24).

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Case Study 24 – Funding adaptations by RussetHomes and Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council

Tonbridge and Malling BoroughCouncil have an on-going localagreement with Russet Homeson how to undertake majoradaptations for their tenants.

Each year Tonbridge and Mallingallocate a set amount of theCouncil’s Disabled FacilitiesGrant budget towardsadaptations for Russet tenants.Russet also allocates a significantcapital budget towards majoradaptations.

In 2012/13 both parties havecommitted £250,000 eachtowards major adaptations andthis will be regularly reviewed.

This agreement means not all the cases come through the DisabledFacilities Grant process and enables a quicker response for all.

The commitment made by Russet reduces the overall demand on theCouncil’s Disabled Facilities Grant budget and allows a more equalspend across tenures.

KHG is also looking at innovative ways of increasing the supply ofaffordable wheelchair accessible homes within new housingdevelopments.

The need for wheelchair accessible housing has been identifiednationally through research and through the commitment from theHomes and Communities Agency to deliver housing that meets theneeds of vulnerable people, in particular wheelchair users.

Housing that is built to wheelchair standards can be beneficial forpeople of all ages including: families with a disabled child, singleoccupants and older people who become disabled through age orillness. Having purpose built housing reduces the burden and cost ofadapting homes once they have been built. The challenge in both theprivate and social housing market is to know which places have beenadapted and where possible encourage other people needing adaptedaccommodation to use it, rather than remove the adaptations.

In Kent, some local housing authorities have made a commitment toencourage the building of wheelchair housing in their affordable housingpolicies. For example, Ashford, Tonbridge and Malling and Dover have arequirement that 10% of all new affordable housing will be built to meetwheelchair standards.

Local housing authorities, social services, health agencies and the thirdsector must work closely and collaboratively to ensure that disabledpeople in need of housing are on an appropriate register for accessiblehousing.

RECOMMENDATION: The JPPB, Kent Housing Group, KentPlanning Officers Group and Kent Developers Group to worktogether to develop a protocol to enable a consistent andstrategic approach to delivering affordable housing for peoplewith a physical or sensory disability.

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5. Learning disability

Valuing People Now – Making it Happen has set out a clear crossgovernment strategy for all services involved in working with peoplewith a Learning Disability to ensure they have a real choice aboutwhere and how they wish to live.

The diversity of type and tenure of housing options for people with alearning disability in Kent and Medway should be increased. Currently asignificant number of people with a learning disability are living inresidential care and yet many wish to live in their own home in theirlocal community and do not want to move away to access services anddisrupt the many links they are building with their family, friends andlocal services. Where appropriate, such as in areas with an identifiedneed, specialised schemes could also be developed.

To support this ambition a Kent Housing Action Plan for People with aLearning Disability was developed by the Joint Policy and Planning Board(JPPB). This action plan has been updated and is seeking to prioritisehousing training for people with learning disabilities, including easy-to-read information on housing and the production of a practitioners’toolkit so all frontline staff in learning disability teams are equipped tosupport people with learning disabilities understand their housingchoices.

RECOMMENDATION: The JPPB to continue to promote theuse of the Kent Housing Action Plan for People with aLearning Disability and the development of a toolkit tosupport people with learning disabilities understand theirhousing choices.

6. Mental health

Research shows that 45% of people with mental health problems faceeviction because of problems such as rent arrears or problems copingwith maintaining a home.

Joint preventative working can help to enable early identification ofmental health or substance misuse problems that could contribute toloss of home (or living in poor condition e.g. cold homes) and wherepossible maintain or improve existing accommodation. This could leadto a reduction in homelessness applications and increased numbers ofpeople with substance misuse problems accessing treatment.

An increase in housing options for those with mental health orsubstance misuse problems, in particular access to the private rentedsector should help to improve move on from supported housing.

The Kent mental health homeless protocols have now been reviewedand re-launched in order that referrals to housing and mental healthservices are made swiftly and appropriately.

The JPPB Move-on toolkit is now available for reference to ensure thatclients in supported housing are aware of and understand the housingoptions available to them.

RECOMMENDATION: The JPPB, including Supporting People,to work with supported housing providers, care managers,health and landlords to ensure that mental health serviceusers are equipped with the skills and knowledge and supportto live independently and be socially included.

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7. Meeting the needs of older adults

With an increasingly ageing population, creating homes that both activeolder adults and older people with health and care needs want to live inis crucial. Kent’s Policy Framework for Later Life recognises theimportance of ensuring that older people have choice; with a range ofhousing options available that older people can select from as theircircumstances change.

Research carried out into older people’s housing needs and aspirationson behalf of Kent Housing Group recognised the importance of health,housing and social care working together to deliver housing andsupport services across the public, private and voluntary sectors.

Significant initiatives and examples of joint working in Kent are certainlyin evidence across health, housing and social care. However, furthersteps are required in order to achieve a genuine whole-systemapproach to planning and developing accommodation, care and supportservices, as well as to the provision of information and advice.

Housing for older people is not just about social care options. Under-occupation of large family homes by elderly couples or single people isstarting to become a significant issue across the County. The provisionof high quality smaller accommodation for older people may help toencourage them to downsize, freeing up larger properties for the familymarket. The Kent-wide initiative being developed by Kent Homechoiceaims to promote downsizing to tackle under-occupation within thesocial rented sector.

Where older people wish to remain in their own home, they mayrequire both practical and financial help to do so. Building homes tomeet the Lifetime Homes design standard can help mitigate the need forcostly adaptations in the future. Many older people who own their ownhome are asset rich but cash poor, and would benefit from a way inwhich to release the equity they hold in their home.

Case Study 25 – Pippin Court, Maidstone

Pippin Court is a supportedhousing development forpeople with enduring mentalhealth needs, which opened inMaidstone in 2012.

The accommodation provides11 one bedroom homes and acommunal/office unit. Thesehomes will be occupied byexisting residents who are currently residents of MCCH and receivesupport from Kent County Council Supporting People.

The homes have been built to Code for Sustainable Homes Level 3,meaning they incorporate energy saving measures such as rain waterharvesting and photovoltaic panels.

The development has been delivered through excellent partnershipworking between Hyde Housing, Appledore, Kent County Council, theHomes and Communities Agency and MCCH, who all invested atremendous level of commitment into Pippin Court

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Older people are also more likely tosuffer from fuel poverty and need helpto heat their homes during winter. TheKent Energy Efficiency Partnership hasset up the KASH scheme to help Kentresidents save money through energysaving improvements in their homesand the Kent Health and AffordableWarmth Strategy sets out a series ofobjectives designed to help the fuelpoor in Kent move into affordablewarmth.

Following a recommendation in the previous version of this Strategy,Kent Housing Group and the Joint Policy and Planning Board havedeveloped Better Homes: housing for the third age – a framework fordelivering older people’s accommodation across Kent and Medway. ThisFramework was developed in partnership with registered providers,care providers, social services, private developers and planners and aimsto promote and enable to delivery of high quality, aspirational housingfor older people.

To help older people understand their housing options and make theright choices for them, the provision of accurate helpful advice andguidance on housing and the available support services is critical.

RECOMMENDATION: Kent Housing Group and JPPB to workwith developers, private registered providers, Kent CountyCouncil, the Elderly Accommodation Council and RetirementHousing Group to develop an older people’s housing adviceservice.

Given the scale of the challenge posed to all services by the ageingpopulation, alongside the economic downturn, partners in Kent andMedway should take action to pursue a more holistic approach toplanning for the future, in order to improve outcomes for older peopleand achieve more cost-effective investment of public money.

RECOMMENDATION: Kent County Council to work withKent Housing Group, the JPPB, care providers and developersto develop an Extra Care Accommodation Strategy.

8. Reducing re-offending

Housing has been often considered as a key element in theresettlement of ex-offenders following their release from prison.

The Social Innovation Lab for Kent (SILK) recently undertook a projectlooking at the issues around the resettlement of offenders in Kent andMedway with a focus on how housing issues contribute the problem ofre-offending. The project brought together a multi-agency team whocommissioned ethnographic researchers to look closely at theexperience of individuals who have been through the system, identifyingissues and gaps.

The project explored how to build on joint working between agenciesto identify more ways to work together to respond better tosystematic problems faced by offenders and reduce re-offending.

The JPPB have recently arranged joint training between prison andpolice resettlement staff, service users and local housing authorities, andwill continue to build on this with short workshops to develop arealistic and consistent pathway for resettlement of offenders/ex-offenders/prisoners.

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The chair of the JPPB is now part of the Integrated ManagementOffender Strategy Board and will continue to work jointly to respondto the barriers in offenders accessing appropriate housing. The JPPBOffender sub group will be looking at the resettlement needs of ex-service personnel who offend in order to try to resettle this clientgroup back into civilian life.

RECOMMENDATION: The JPPB to identify a pathway for theresettlement of ex-service personnel who have offended.

9. Gypsies and Travellers

There is a need to plan strategically to enable a network of permanentsites across the County. This will help to reduce and deterunauthorised developments and encampments across Kent andMedway. Local determination of the scale of affordable pitches requiredby Gypsies and Travellers will help to provide a better understanding tominimise this issue. Local Investment Plans and Local Plans haveidentified where there is a need for new sites.

There are many settled Gypsies and Travellers in social housing stock,which on occasions, results in cultural and management issues. There isa need therefore to support and reduce some of the culturalimplications of residence in housing and to look for alternatives.

Case Study 26 – Hever Road, Sevenoaks

Gypsies and Travellers are the largest BME group in the Sevenoaksdistrict, which has the highest number of public plots in Kent as wellas a high percentage of settled Gypsies and Travellers in socialhousing in the north of the district.

In the past there were many unauthorised encampments, issues withresidents on sites within the district and cultural issues with thesettled Gypsies and Travellers. Sevenoaks District Council (SDC)decided that the way forward was to act proactively, which includedminimising unauthorised encampments.

SDC placed 3 successful bids to CLG for funding to improve,modernise and extend the Council’s site. Through this, residents nowhave their own electrical and water supplies and there is a Sitewarden who reports repairs and notifies the SDC of potential issuesand minimises problems on the site. SDC also have a robustallocation policy and new plots are allocated with the Site Wardeninput to retain a balanced site.

The HERO scheme provides an officer to attend the site everymonth to discuss training and employment opportunities plus givebenefit advice, which has helped some residents to re-train and 1 hasgone into employment.

Following these measures, Hever Road is an exemplary modern, lowmaintenance and safe site. Residents are empowered to manage theirown budgets, pay the rent and their utility bills and there are minimalrent arrears. There are fewer issues and management problems onsite and fewer unauthorised encampments in the district.

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10. Supporting People

Kent and Medway are covered by two Supporting People Programmes,which provide services to people with clearly evidenced housing relatedsupport needs, who are less likely to be receiving support fromstatutory services and need support for a time limited period. TheProgrammes have traditionally delivered services to 21 client groupsincluding single homeless people, families with support needs, youngpeople at risk, people with substance misuse problems, offenders andpeople at risk of domestic abuse.

Housing related support is intended to enable vulnerable people toachieve independence by making outcome focused interventions basedon a support plan which identifies their needs and seeks to addressthem.

The Kent Supporting People Programme meets the three County-wideambitions set out in the Vision for Kent:1 to help the Kent economy grow1 to put the citizen in control1 to tackle disadvantage

The Kent Supporting People Programme also meets 7 out of the 16priorities of Bold Steps for Kent:

1 improve how we procure and commission services1 support the transformation of health and social care1 support new housing growth that is affordable, sustainable and within the appropriate infrastructure

1 improve access to public services and move towards a single initial assessment process

1 ensure the most robust and effective public protection arrangements

1 improve services for the most vulnerable people in Kent1 support families with complex needs and increase the use of community budgets

The Medway Supporting People Programme focuses on 5 key objectivesfor housing support service provision. This involves ensuring that theyare:

1 Accessible1 High quality1 Personalised1 Focussed on the greatest need1 User focussed

All of the above has an underlying theme of maximising value for moneyfor the resources expended.

11. Service Personnel

There is a real need to ensure that members of Her Majesty’s armedforces have access to the range of housing options that are available inthe market, both whilst serving and after they leave military service.

Whilst we welcome the government’s recent commitments to giveserving and ex-serving military personnel priority for social housing andgovernment home ownership schemes such as FirstBuy, more could bedone to help service personnel understand what their housing choicesare.

It is estimated that around 500 people leave the armed forces and jointhe veteran population in Kent and Medway each year. A lack ofknowledge amongst military personnel about their housing options,especially amongst non-officer ranks, means that many are unprepared

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and thus unable to meet the requirements of mortgage lenders orprivate landlords or are unaware how to make the best and most timelyapproach to their local authority for housing advice. Home ownershipin particular remains out of the reach of many junior ranking servicepersonnel often due to a combination of low wages, low levels ofsavings and, once they have left the service no relevant employmentrecord.

There is a real need to ensure that service personnel have access to allthe relevant information about their housing options to enable them tomake informed choices about where they and their families live. Thisinformation needs to be made available before members of the armedforces leave the service, to enable them and their families to planeffectively for the homes they need and aspire to.

RECOMMENDATION: Kent Housing Group and the JPPB towork with service personnel representative organisations,developers, lenders and Kent Homechoice to explore how toincrease knowledge of housing options amongst members ofthe armed forces and their families.

At its worst extreme, ex-service personnel can be particularly at risk ofbecoming homeless, rough sleeping, developing dependency on alcoholor entering the criminal justice system. Advice should be provided andrelevant action taken to assist vulnerable ex-service personnel whohave found themselves in circumstances that have resulted inhomelessness or risk of homelessness.

RECOMMENDATION: Kent Housing Group and the JPPB towork with service personnel representative organisations toexplore options to assist vulnerable ex-service personnel whohave become or are at risk of becoming homeless.

Case Study 27 – Life Works

The Royal British LegionIndustries’ LifeWorksProgramme has beendesigned to act as an easilyaccessible service thatidentifies what specific issuesservice leavers are facing,draws together and co-ordinates any specialist helpthey may need to deal withthese issues, and supports people on their journey as you overcomethem.

LifeWorks provides the support and guidance needed to help servingand ex-service personnel into sustainable employment. This uniquecourse can help you understand your long-term career prospectswhilst helping you to recognise how the skills and training you haveacquired in the Services can be transferred into civilian employment.Our specialist trainers will also help you to completely review youraspirations, capabilities and lifestyle in order to adjust to civilian life ifyou have been injured, and to provide you with the support to helpyou adjust to live with a disability.

LifeWorks have received a positive response from attendees on theprogramme and in a recent evaluation, delegates reported havingmade the following key changes in their lives:

1 36% have secured paid or unpaid work1 88% have increased in personal motivation1 67% have increased their communication skills1 63% of delegates have improved in confidence.

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Kent and Medway Strategic Housing Market Assessment1. Background

Strategic Housing Market Assessments (SHMAs) are cross-boundarystudies of the operation of Housing Market Areas.

The Kent and Medway SHMA is the evidence base created to supportdevelopment of this Strategy. Since the Strategy was launched in May2011, some of the key evidence in the SHMA has been reviewed to testwhether the challenges identified remain relevant in 2012.

The SHMA presents evidence for four sub-County areas: West Kent andMaidstone, Ashford, East Kent and North Kent. These areas are broadlyconsistent with the housing and labour markets within the County,though Maidstone is relatively self-contained, and correspond to theareas under the Local Investment Plans.

2. Population and Economy

The housing markets within Kent and Medway are driven to a largeextent by changes in the population and economy. Over the period1981-2008, the number of households in Kent and Medway increased bymore than one quarter. This suggests there is significant potential fordemographic and economic change in the next 20 years.

The ONS 2008 projections, which are based on past trends, assumeKent’s population will grow faster than the regional and national averageover the next 25 years (to 2033). However, these trend basedprojections have significant weaknesses because of their assumptionsabout migration and household formation which relate to the periodbefore the recession and financial crisis.

Kent Planning Officers Group has produced a methodology to allowlocal authorities to develop household projections to inform theirdwelling requirements. It will allow an authority to assess the trade offsand consequences of different levels of housing provision in a consistentway across Kent and Medway.

The lack of up to date housing requirements for the Kent and Medwayauthorities adds a layer of uncertainty to the development process.However, the sub-region is better placed than most areas with aconsistent methodology for determining local requirements which hasthe potential to ensure a transparent and cooperative approach toestablishing future housing provision.

Overall, the greatest growth in Kent and Medway is expected amongstsingle person and multi-person households (ie where the occupants arenot related). A significant proportion of the growth in single personhouseholds will be driven by older people living alone. Many of thesehouseholds will occupy larger homes despite their smaller householdsize.

There will also be a greater need to provide move-on accommodationand floating support services to vulnerable people who are movingfrom supported housing to an independent living situation.

It is also important to note that in all of the sub-County market areas,with the exception of East Kent, there are higher proportions ofchildren (the 0-14 age group) within the population than in the SouthEast as a whole. This suggests that the market areas, particularlyAshford, where almost 20% of the population is aged 0-14, include

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attractive places for families to live and that there will be continueddemand and need for family accommodation in the future.

The wealth generating capacity of the Kent and Medway economy is akey factor in earnings and household incomes which in turn driveshousing demand. Kent and Medway have around 636,700 jobs – 17% oftotal employment in the South East, a share consistent with its share ofhouseholds. Over 2008-2010, however, around 11,700 jobs were lostwithin Kent and Medway. Unemployment within Kent and Medway,measured by the claimant count, stood at 35,300 (3.3%) in October2011, up by 4,800 on the same time in 20101.

Young people (aged 18-24) account for the largest proportion ofunemployed people (32%) and this will affect their ability to formindependent households (impacting on household formation) and ontheir ability to save for rental deposits or equity to buy a home in thefuture.It is important to acknowledge the influence of London on householdincomes within Kent and Medway. The proximity of London allowssome people to access higher paid jobs in the capital and boost theirhousehold income. Conversely, those who work within Kent andMedway tend have lower earnings on average. This relationship and theunequal impact it has upon household incomes in Kent and Medway islikely to be reinforced in the future as Kent is ‘relocated’ closer toLondon as a result of dramatic improvements in rail accessibilitythrough the opening of High Speed 1 services. This is likely to have afurther impact on house prices in the rural parts of Ashford andGravesham, making affordability problems more acute.

Economic recovery will be slow within Kent and Medway and this isbeing driven by wider macro-economic forces. Slower growth is likely

to dampen migration to the sub-region and will moderate demand forhousing in the short term. With unemployment highest amongst theyoung this will constrain the ability of some young people to formindependent households; for others it will limit their prospects ofbecoming first time buyers and is likely to increase demand for privaterental accommodation.

With respect to these two key drivers of the housing market –population and economic change – the SHMA identified two important

1.Kent County Council Research and Evaluation Statistical Bulletin November 2011

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Figure 9: Forecast % Change in Population Amongst Older People, Kentand Medway and South East

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issues that will affect demand and need in the future:

i. The ageing population: ONS 2008-based projections predict the under-55 population of Kent and Medway will increase by less than 10%, compared to around 50% in the over-55 population. The groupmost likely to need specialist housing provision, those aged over 75, will increase by 116,000 people in Kent & Medway by 2031 – an increase of 86% on the 2008 population. Kent County Council forecasts use a different methodology but show a similar pattern. In the future, older people are most likely to be home owners. Their decisions about work and housing will impact on the mainstream housing market, particularly if most continue to choose not to downsize.

ii. Household income growth and inequality: Growth in household incomes drives demand for housing, both in terms of the overall quantity and the size and quality of homes. Kent and Medway experienced faster growth in resident earnings than the South East and London over recent years. But inequality in household incomes has increased over time as a result of changes to the structure of the economy and social change.

The SHMA predicted that household budgets would come underpressure as household incomes fell in the short term and as living costs(particularly fuel and food costs) continued to rise. At the time, this wasnot reflected in the data but recent research is consistent with thisview.

At the national level, there was initial stability in incomes during andafter the recession because the stabilising effect of the benefit systemand muted falls in employment compared to falls in economic output2

In Kent and Medway, earnings of residents were £27,000 and earnings ofemployees were £25,400 in 2010, almost identical to levels in 2009,consistent with the national picture. But earnings in the UK fell by 3.8%in real terms in 2010/11 because of real falls in state benefits and lowerlevels of employment. DTZ expect Kent and Medway followed the samepattern. Whilst there was limited change in household incomes in thetwo years following the downturn, in the medium to long term there islikely to be a much greater effect as a result of deficit reduction plansand growing unemployment.

The uneven distribution of incomes within the household populationand the effect that this has on the demand and need for differenttenures of housing remains a challenge. The Institute for Fiscal Studiesfinds that inequality of incomes has not changed markedly since therecession. However, households with the highest incomes haveexperienced greater income growth than other groups and those in thelowest income bands will be affected by benefit cuts and so inequality inincome distribution is likely to widen in the future3. The number ofhouseholds claiming housing benefit has risen in each of the Kent andMedway authorities over the last year (to September 2011).4

3. Types of home

There are key differences in the type of homes across different sub-County markets within Kent and Medway but, on average, Kent andMedway has a lower proportion of detached houses than the SouthEast. Only Ashford, West Kent (in particular Sevenoaks) and Maidstoneeither match or exceed the regional average. The nature of the land supply available in the future, in terms oflocation, size and type of site will also be important in influencing thetype and size of product developed and the extent to which

2. ‘The Great Recession and the Distribution of Household Incomes’ (July 2011) Funded by Fondazione Rodolfo Debenedetti, Milan3. IFS (2011) Poverty and Inequality in the UK4.DWP Housing Benefit Recipients by Region and Local Authority

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completions can be delivered in a changing market. Assumptions madein plans about densities may also reflect conditions before thedownturn and the overall number and type of homes that a site couldsustain. Completions in the years before the downturn relied to someextent on the development of flats and achieving relatively highdensities on development land.

In general, North and East Kent are characterised by older housing, inline with the high proportions of traditionally older terraced propertiesseen in North Kent and the smaller sized housing that characterise EastKent, partly as a result of the subdivision of large terraced properties. Incontrast, the majority of properties in Ashford are relatively modern –dating from 1964 or later. With the exception of Tunbridge Wells, WestKent’s housing stock has a lower proportion of flats than the rest ofKent and Medway and is composed of predominantly detached andsemi detached housing built between 1964 and 1995. Tunbridge Wellshas the highest proportion of houses (45%) built pre 1919 in theCounty.

4. Land

The future land supply for each of the market areas provides a usefulindication as to the amount of land available to support futurecompletions, and therefore the capacity for future managed growth.Delivery in the short term will be determined by the resourcesavailable to bring sites forward. This includes the ability of housebuildersto secure development finance as well as public funding to supportstrategic infrastructure.

Across England housing completions have fallen significantly since 2007.In England as a whole, 175,000 new homes were completed in 2007; in2010, only 103,000 new homes were completed, a 41% decline over theperiod 2007-10. Housing completions are unlikely to have exceeded107,000 in 2011. The picture is the same in South East England. 30,570new homes were completed in South East England in 2007. This fell to19,400 in 2010, a 37% fall in the number of completions. The number ofnew homes built in the South East in 2011 is unlikely to have exceeded20,000.

In Kent and Medway, 5,060 homes were completed in 2009/10compared to 8,175 at the peak in 2007/08.5 This represents the lowestlevel of completions since 2001 and over half of these homes wereaffordable so the output of market homes completed for sale was thelowest for over a decade. There are two key reasons for the downturnin house building:1 Reduced mortgage lending because demand from buyers has fallen due to uncertainty about the economic outlook and because ofmore limited mortgage availability.

1 The difficulty in securing development finance from lenders

5. Kent County Council Research and Evaluation statisitics on completions atlocal authority level

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5. Condition

On the whole, there are limited numbers of social rented homes thatare judged as being in poor condition and this can be attributed to theDecent Homes programme over the last decade which has targetedsignificant resources at improving the condition of public sectorproperties. It is now the private sector (largely private rented sector)where the majority of poor condition properties are found.

The introduction of the Housing Health and Safety Rating Systemmeans that the condition of properties is measured in a different way.Dwellings are now given ‘hazard scores’ for 29 health and safety areas.The scores are based on the ‘risk of harm’ to an occupier of a dwellingwhich results from the condition of the dwelling. A category 1 faultposes the most risk. It is not just about the condition of the dwellingper se but also the suitability of its use e.g. overcrowding or featureswhich would be hazardous to children or older people but notnecessarily to other occupants. In Kent and Medway as a whole, 11% ofthe housing stock is estimated to have a Category 1 hazard. This stockis almost entirely within the private sector.

The latest Survey of English Housing reveals that falls have overtakencold homes as the major cause for Category 1 hazards in the home.6

This is consistent with the experience of Environmental Health Officerswithin Kent and Medway. However with fuel costs rising, the problem offuel poverty is increasing. Those on low incomes are reducing theamount of heating and reducing ventilation to their homes andconsequently condensation and mould problems are increasing and havebecome the main reason for complaint from tenants in Kent andMedway. Local authorities are also seeing an increase in overcrowding,mainly amongst ethnic minorities especially those from Eastern Europe.This is likely to be the effect of declining levels of employment, forcing

individuals and households to live in overcrowded conditions to reducetheir housing costs.

6. Affordability

Overall, house prices across Kent and Medway more than doubled overthe last 12 years, despite sharp falls over 2007/08. Combined with pricerises over the long term, the pattern of income growth has contributedto declining affordability of home ownership. This is particularly acute inrural areas and parts of West Kent.

DTZ expect that the proportion of homeowners has peaked, althoughthis may vary between individual authority areas, and the aspiration ofhome ownership amongst the majority of households is expected tocontinue. However, a key concern over recent years has been the abilityof households to access home ownership, not because of affordabilitybut because of the reduction in the availability of mortgages and stricteraccess criteria.

Figure 10 appears to show that affordability improved across Kent andMedway and its sub-regions over 2008-09 but worsened again in 2009-10. This suggests that it is not just the accessibility of home ownership –limited by mortgage availability and stricter credit conditions – butcontinued problems of affordability are persisting, contrary to whatmight be expected following sharp falls in house prices.

The private rented sector will continue to play an increasinglyimportant role in addressing housing need and demand in the future,whether households actively choose this tenure or whether they areforced to rent for longer until they find the resources to buy their ownhome.

6. CLG Survey of English Housing - Summary Statistics Table SST4.1: Health and safety - dwellings, 2009

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Declining affordability has also meant that an increasing proportion ofhouseholds are unable to meet their needs within the market.

In 2010 there were just over 40,000 households on local authoritywaiting lists within Kent and Medway and 46,000 households in 2011, anincrease of over 7,000 households since the SHMA, which drew on datafrom 2008.7Whilst waiting lists are an imperfect measure of housingneed, this headline indicator suggests that pressures have risen over thelast two years. The number of households accepted as homeless and inpriority need in 2010/11 was 1,150 and has remained relatively stableover the last two years. Kent and Medway authorities have so farmanaged to keep temporary accommodation use stable but anecdotalevidence suggests the use of temporary accommodation is nowincreasing.

Collectively, the housing need assessments that have been undertakenacross the County suggest that there is an annual need for around12,000 additional affordable homes. The ability to address this level ofneed is constrained by the supply of affordable homes

Figure 11 shows that the stock of social rented housing within Kent andMedway as a whole has recovered somewhat in the last two yearsfollowing a period of decline.8 The stock of social rented homes inabsolute terms in Kent and Medway is now larger than in 1997, incontrast to two years ago. Significant numbers of new affordable homeswere delivered in 2008-09 and 2009-10 as private registered providersand local authorities took advantage of additional resources foraffordable housing made available by government as part of a housingmarket rescue package. 2,400 and 2,750 affordable homes weredelivered in Kent and Medway in 2008-09 and 2009-10 respectively, upfrom a peak of 1,700 in 2007-08. Some developers were also willing tore-negotiate affordable housing quotas on sites as a means of improvingcash flow whilst market homes were difficult to sell.

Figure 10: Ratio of Lower Quartile House Prices to Lower QuartileEarnings Ratios, 1998 - 2010

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Figure 11: Indexed Growth in Social Rented Stock (1997 = 100)

The housing need assessments undertaken across the County suggestthat the requirements of households in need are for around one third 1bedroom homes and two thirds 2 bedrooms or more. Small propertiesbecome available for re-let most frequently, both because they are morenumerous and also because households living in these properties aremore likely to move. Similarly, larger properties are less numerous and,particularly in rural areas, are more likely to have been sold throughRight to Buy, and households living in larger homes are less likely tomove. This exacerbates the pressure on larger homes in the socialrented sector.

Around 5,200 households within Kent and Medway have applied forintermediate affordable housing products through Moat, the LocalHomeBuy Agent. In theory, there is a much larger intermediate marketon the basis of household incomes within Kent and Medway. Themajority (just under 4,000) are interested in all products available but1,300 have registered to access intermediate rental products.

Intermediate affordable housing has been aimed primarily at householdson the margins of home ownership, with an explicit purpose ofextending home ownership to more households. However, there maybe some scope for intermediate housing to take a greater role inaddressing housing needs by helping local housing authorities andprivate registered providers to free up social rented accommodation.16% of households registered for intermediate housing with Moat whoare eligible for the products available are already social rented tenants.

Since the Strategy launch in May 2011, the funding for new affordablehousing has changed. The majority of new affordable housing supply willbe delivered as Affordable Rent. This has been designed to giveProviders (private registered providers and local authorities) scope toincrease rents on new lettings. Affordable Rents can be set at up to 80%of market rents and on non-permanent tenancies.

It represents a shift from capital to revenue funding of affordablehousing and it is broadly acknowledged that although short term savingswill be made on grant, the housing benefit bill may rise as rents increaseand Providers will also need to borrow more to fund development.Providers who have bid for Homes and Communities Agency (HCA)funding in the most recent round have made assumptions about thelevel of rents they can achieve and their business plans will be based onthis. Rents are likely to be set at the maximum level possible to securegreater revenue which can then be channelled in to development ofnew homes. Providers have significant scope to increase rents fromsocial rented levels before the LHA limit is reached in some parts ofKent but in others there is likely to be less scope for increasing rents.

Affordable Rents set at 80% of market rents will not be affordable tothe majority of those in housing need unless households are expectedto spend significantly more than a third of their income on rental costs.

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This is especially true of larger properties and therefore a challenge formeeting the needs of families.

Generally it is those in employment, not reliant on benefits and those inlower priority need that are better able to afford to pay higher rents.There is a risk that lower priority households with greater resourcesmay secure affordable housing before those in greater need. AffordableRent may not address the needs of those at the top of the waiting listand local authorities may have to resort to greater use of temporaryaccommodation in order to house those in greatest need if the supplyof affordable properties is unsuitable.

DTZ has consulted Providers within Kent and Medway and would makethe following observations:

It is a mixed picture as to whether Providers are delivering more orless affordable housing compared to the previous funding model.

1 Many are planning to set affordable rents at or close to 80% of market rents, though most pledge to keep them below LHA limits. It will not be possible to meet both criteria for larger properties so something will have to give – either revenues to Providers or affordability for tenants.

1 Most Providers will determine rents by locality so there is likely to be significant variation across Kent, including within local authority areas.

1 Most will increase rents in line with RPI plus 0.5%. Rents are therefore likely to grow faster than benefit rates, which are linked to CPI.

1 Providers are likely to convert a proportion existing social rented homes into Affordable Rent when tenancies come up for renewal or when Social Rented homes become available for re-let.

1 Few are planning to provide new social rented accommodation.

No one knows how much households will get by way of housing benefitin the future. The government’s Welfare Reform Act is introducing aUniversal Credit in 2013 which will combine benefits of working agehouseholds into a single payment and at the same time the totalamount households can receive in benefits will be capped.

This will reduce the budgets of many larger households, directlyimpacting on what they can afford to pay in rent. It willdisproportionately affect London and more expensive parts of the Kent(parts of West Kent and the rural areas). DTZ would suggest that rentsare only likely to fall in response to changes in benefits where theprivate rental market is focused on the benefit driven sector. If rents donot respond to this (i.e. fall) some of these households will have tomake difficult choices about whether to prioritise paying the rent, moveto cheaper areas, or live in overcrowded conditions in smalleraccommodation than they actually need.

Affordable Rent also has the potential to affect the viability of housingdevelopments on specific sites. It may change the amount that Providersare able to pay for the affordable element of a scheme and it is likely tomake valuations more complex, as there is much more flexibility overrent levels at local levels and therefore the revenues that can besecured from Affordable Rents on specific schemes.

Housebuilders have indicated concerns about the uncertainty aroundthe setting of rents – with both private registered providers and localauthorities involved – and the impact this will have on the viability ofaffordable housing on schemes. Kent developers are already concernedabout viability and how this is dealt within in the planning process.Affordable Rent is likely to add another complexity to this exercise.

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In DTZ’s view, Affordable Rent is not a long term solution to theprovision of affordable housing in the UK. It relies too heavily onborrowing against the existing asset value of private registeredproviders. By 2015, the ability of private registered providers tocontinue to raise finance on the scale they will need to have done overthe next few years will be substantially exhausted. The model needs tobe seen as a stepping stone to a new approach to delivering housing forthose unable to afford market housing.

It is not only Providers who will see the need to migrate to a newmodel of affordable housing provision. By 2015, the full impact of theAffordable Rent programme on the government HousingBenefit/Universal Credit budget will be apparent; and it will present amajor problem for the next government, which will still face significantbudgetary constraints if the economy grows more slowly than forecast.

7. Challenges

The evidence presented in the SHMA 2010 and the recent reviewrevealed a number of challenges:

i. The need to secure delivery of new homes (market and affordable): Housing growth will be determined by local authorities based on local need and ambition.

ii. The imperative to achieve regeneration and renewal: Themajority of poor condition properties are found in the private rented sector and in large concentrations in some parts of Kent and Medway. There are also a large number of empty homes that could be brought back into use. There are also large brownfield sites in need of regeneration with the potential to deliver new homes and jobs. This will be challenging following the downturn and limited

public sector resources and as the focus shifts to boosting economic growth. Radical thinking is required to unlock key sites.

iii. There is also the challenge and opportunity of improving the energy efficiency of existing homes. Whilst new supply is critical, even if delivered, the majority of homes within Kent and Medway that residents will occupy in 20-30 years time have already been built. Authorities therefore need to address the challenge of improving energy efficiency in mainstream housing.

There is the need to consider different dimensions of these issues andchallenges with respect to vulnerable groups, who may need supportservices linked to housing, such as floating support, supported housingor move-on accommodation and to rural communities whereaffordability and delivery challenges are often more acute.There is a further key challenge on the horizon for Kent and Medwaywhich will impact on the ability of local authorities to address housingneed in particular. This is Welfare Reform.

Figure 12 provides a summary of the key themes that the SHMA hasidentified. Change in the size and structure of the population andeconomy within Kent and Medway impacts on the number ofhouseholds, their make-up and their financial resources (householdincomes). Outcomes of these changes include an ageing population,declining affordability of housing and significant housing need.

Cross-cutting these challenges are the specific needs of vulnerablehouseholds, the potential impact of welfare reform and differentmanifestations of the issues within rural and urban areas. The challengeshighlight the importance of achieving housing delivery and regenerationand renewal and in doing so, improving the energy efficiency of new andexisting homes. Housing delivery and regeneration will also be expected

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to contribute to economic growth which is becoming the main focus ofpolicy makers.

Figure 12 – Key themes for the Strategy

HouseholdIncomes

Affordability &Accessibility

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1. Governance and monitoring

This Strategy has been delivered directly under the auspices of the KentForum.

The monitoring of progress and updating of the Strategy will be directlyreported to the Kent Forum. The implementation of the Strategy will bedelegated by the Kent Forum to the Kent Housing Group (KHG). It isexpected that KHG will work collaboratively across its membership topromote the priorities and deliver the aims of the Strategy. KHG willalso work in partnership with the Kent Planning Officers Group, theJoint Policy and Planning Board (Housing), Supporting PeopleCommissioning Body, Kent Health and Affordable Warmth StrategyWorking Group, Kent Highways Services and Kent Developers Groupto ensure a joined-up approach to the monitoring of progress andpromotion of delivery.

KHG will develop a dashboard of key housing indicators, to track theimpact the Strategy is having across Kent and Medway and the impact ofgovernment policies such as welfare reform. It is proposed that thisdashboard will include data on:

1 Number of completions and type of housing built (private sector, rural housing, rental, specialist accommodation etc)

1 Number of completions under the Affordable Rent Framework (ARF)

1 Number of completions on public sector land1 Funding method for all completions1 House sales transactions

1 Right to Buy sales (including from RPs)1 House prices1 Rental prices (across all sectors)1 Number of long-term empty properties1 Number of long-term empty properties brought back into use1 Tenancies granted under the ARF (tenancy type/cost/type of tenant)1 Mortgages granted under the Kent Local Authority Mortgage Scheme

1 Number of homelessness applications 1 Number of people placed in temporary accommodation1 Number of people on Housing Registers in priority need 1 Information to track the impacts of welfare reform (to be developed by Kent Housing Group)

2. Implementation plan

Following endorsement of the refreshed Strategy by the Kent Forum,Kent Housing Group in collaboration with Kent Planning OfficersGroup, Joint Policy and Planning Board and Kent developers Group willdevelop an implementation plan, setting out how the Strategy’srecommendations will be delivered.

KHG will provide briefings to the Kent Forum on progress against theimplementation plan, highlighting opportunities for joint working onpriorities identified in the Strategy.

Implementation

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The original Strategy was commissioned by the Kent Economic Boardin 2009, in response to the ambition outlined in KCC’s RegenerationFramework and was launched by Sir Bob Kerslake in May 2011.

Direct work on the development of the evidence base and Strategybegan in June 2009 following appointment of Brian Horton as StrategicHousing Advisor. This was followed by appointment of DTZ’s ChrisCobbold and Kerry Higgins to prepare a Strategic Housing MarketAssessment (SHMA) for Kent and Medway, with technical support onthe development innovation and strategic responses provided by SarahWhitney and Jerry Freeman from CBRE.

Further material has been developed in Task and Finish groups andresearch work by a wide range of colleagues from the public andprivate sector across Kent and Medway, with particular support from JillPells and Rebecca Smith from Kent Housing Group (KHG), Lesley Clayfrom Joint Policy and Planning Board (JPPB) and Alan White from KentHomechoice.

An update to the SHMA was carried out by DTZ at the beginning of2012 and the Strategy has been refreshed to reflect the change inexternal environment and raft of housing-related initiatives introducedby the government since the Strategy’s original launch in May 2011.

The views presented in the Strategy are distilled from a wide rangingprocess of engagement and consultation with elected members, councilofficers, representatives of many of the other public bodies active atboth local and national levels, with particular involvement from KHG,JPPB, Kent Developers Group, National Landlords Association, Kent

Planning Officers Group colleagues and the Homes and CommunitiesAgency.

Drafting of the Strategy and the refresh was carried out by Jo Purvisfrom Kent County Council.

Method Statement

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Glossary21st Century Kent KCC’s wide-ranging spatial vision for Kent, produced by Sir Terry Farrell, which sets out its ambitions for the future.

Affordable Homes Programme/Affordable Rent Framework

New funding programme from the Homes and Communities Agency to fund the delivery of new affordable homesuntil 2015, which has introduced the new affordable rent tenure.

Affordable HousingHousing which is either for sale or for rent – or a combination of both – at below current market values providedto specified eligible households whose needs are not met by the market. Typically, it takes the form of low cost homeownership or below market rent.

Affordable Rent A new more flexible form of tenure which enables social landlords to grant new flexible tenancies, charged at up 80per cent of market rent and on non-permanent tenancies.

Better Homes: housing for thethird age Kent-wide Framework developed by Kent Housing Group and Joint Policy and Planning Board to help facilitate and

enable the delivery of high quality, aspirational accommodation for older people.

Bold Steps for Kent Kent County Council’s Medium-Term Plan, setting out the authority’s priorities until 2014/15.

Build Now, Pay Later Funding model for new development involving public sector land which aims to stimulate development activity andincentivise developers to commence development early by deferring payment to match the developer’s cash flow.

Build to Rent Form of investment in the private rented sector where large scale developments are built with homes purelyavailable for rent.

Building Better Lives A report by the Audit Commission examining the strategic housing function of local authorities.

Business Rates Payments from businesses and other occupiers of non-domestic property that contribute towards the costs of localauthority services.

CABE Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment – the government’s advisor on architecture, urban designand public space.

CBRE CB Richard Ellis – global commercial real estate advisors that supported the development of the Strategy.

Co-ownership Model A potential model whereby an individual occupier and an organisation such as a private registered provider or aprivate developer share the legal ownership of a property.

Code for Sustainable Homes The national standard for the sustainable design and construction of new homes, which aims to reduce carbonemissions and create homes that are more sustainable.

Community Infrastructure Levy(CIL)

A planning charge which allows local authorities to raise funds from developers undertaking new building projects intheir area. The money can be used to fund a wide range of infrastructure that is needed as a result of development.

Community Right to Build Coalition government initiative which enables communities to take forward local development without applying forplanning permission if there is overwhelming community support and minimum criteria are met.

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Comprehensive SpendingReview (CSR)

HM Treasury-led process that allocates central government Departmental resources and sets budgets starting froma zero base (i.e. without reference to past plans or, initially, current expenditure), according to the government’spriorities.

Creating SuccessfulCommunities

Kent Housing Group protocol that aims to ensure that future housing developments within Kent meet the objectiveof creating long-lasting successful communities.

Custom Build HomesProgramme

Government programme, which includes a £30m to support the development of community or group self-buildhomes.

Decent Homes A national government standard for social and affordable housing which requires a property to be warm andweatherproof and have reasonably modern facilities.

Department for Communitiesand Local Government (CLG)

Government department that sets policy on supporting local government; communities and neighbourhoods;regeneration; housing; planning, building and the environment and fire.

Disabled Facilities Grants Grants issued by local authorities to disabled people to adapt their homes to enable them to continue to live there.

DTZ Global real estate advisors that supported the development of the Strategy.

Energy Act 2011 Coalition government legislation which aims to improve energy efficiency in homes and businesses, promote lowcarbon energy production and secure energy supplies.

Equity Release A way in which older people that are asset rich but cash poor can raise money against the value of their home.

FirstBuy Coalition government shared equity initiative to enable First Time Buyers to purchase a newbuild property, using anequity loan for 20% of the property purchase price.

Floating Support Service provided by the Supporting People Programme to help support vulnerable people who live in their ownhome but need help managing with daily life, such as those who have recently moved in from supported housing.

Get Britain Building Fund A £240m government fund which aims to unlock stalled sites that already have planning permission in place.

Green Deal Coalition government initiative to enable private firms to offer consumers energy efficiency improvements to theirhomes, community spaces and businesses at no upfront cost, and recoup payments through a charge in instalmentson their energy bill.

Handy Van Community safety scheme run by KCC and Help the Aged, providing free repair and security services for elderly,vulnerable or disabled people.

Hidden Homes Assessments Feasibility studies undertaken by local authorities to establish whether their land could be used better for theprovision of homes.

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Hills Report Report produced by Professor John Hills on behalf of the government in 2007 examining the future role of socialhousing.

Homes and CommunitiesAgency

The national housing and regeneration agency for England. A non-departmental public body sponsored by theDepartment for Communities and Local Government

HomeBuy The government’s range of shared ownership housing schemes including part rent, part buy and shared equityschemes.

Housing Health and SafetyRating System

A risk based evaluation tool to help local authorities identify and protect against potential risks and hazards to healthand safety caused by deficiencies within people’s homes.

Housing Need Assessments Studies carried out by local housing authorities to assess future local housing requirements, in particular in relation toaffordable housing.

Housing Revenue Account System of local authority housing finance, being abolished by the government.

Institute for Fiscal Studies London-based independent economic research institute.

Institutionally-funded PRS Investment by private sector organisations into the building of new homes for rental to the private sector.

Integrated ManagementOffender Strategy Board

Multi-agency Board consisting of Kent Probation, Kent Police, Prisons, Health and local authorities, which aims tobring together approaches to dealing with persistent offenders.

Joint Policy and PlanningBoard for Housing (JPPB)

A Kent-wide forum where strategic issues requiring joint working between health, housing and social care, can beraised and measures to address them, developed.

KASH Scheme The Kent Action to Save Heat Scheme, run by Kent local authorities and Creative Environmental Networks, whichprovides free impartial advice and information to people about the best deals for energy saving measures.

Kent Choice Based LettingsPartnership

A Kent-wide Partnership between local housing authorities and private registered providers enabling people onHousing Registers to bid for available social rented properties.

Kent Commitment Memorandum of Understanding signed by KCC and all district councils in Kent committing to working more closelytogether.

Kent Design Initiative Guide that provides the criteria for assessing planning applications in relation to quality and design.

Kent Developers Group An association of the owners of, and developers of, the main development sites in Kent and Medway.

Kent Economic Board The economic partnership for Kent, which identifies the shared view of the strategic economic development andregeneration priorities for the County of Kent.

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Kent Energy EfficiencyPartnership (KEEP)

A group made up of representatives from all Kent’s local authorities, which supports the development ofprogrammes to reduce both energy use and fuel poverty.

Kent Forum A single body made up of democratically accountable representatives from across the public sector in Kent.

Kent Health and AffordableWarmth Strategy

Strategy that sets out a series of objectives to help fuel poor households within Kent move into affordable warmthand to reduce excess winter deaths.

Kent Homechoice The choice-based lettings service for council and private registered provider homes in Kent.

Kent Housing Action Plan forPeople with a LearningDisability

Kent-wide Plan that has been produced in order to help the people of Kent who work in housing, in Adult SocialServices and the District Partnership Groups to improve the housing options for people with a learning disability.

Kent Housing Group (KHG) A Kent-wide forum which serves to represent the collective voice of Kent’s housing bodies.

Kent Housing Options Group(KHOG) A Kent-wide sub-group of the Kent Housing Group with a specific focus on homelessness and housing allocations.

Kent Planning Officers Group(KPOG)

A strategic forum which brings together key planning officers from local authorities to consider Kent-wide planningissues and build consensus.

Kent Private Sector Group A Kent-wide sub-group of the Kent Housing Group with a specific focus on the private sector.

Kent Rural Board The strategic rural partnership for Kent and Medway, which aims to foster collaborative cross-sector working on arange of key policy agendas.

Kent and Medway StrategicHousing Market Assessment The evidence base created to support development of this Strategy.

Kent Supporting People Programme which helps vulnerable people in Kent to have a better quality of life by providing housing-relatedsupport services and helping them to move back to living independently.

Laying the Foundations: AHousing Strategy for England

Coalition government housing strategy which aims to get the housing market moving again; lay the foundations for a more responsive, effective and stable housing market in the future; support choice and quality for tenants and improve environmental standards and design quality

Lifetime Homes Standard A set of 16 design criteria that provide a model for building accessible and adaptable homes.

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Local Asset Backed Vehicle A form of joint venture often set up to address development across multiple projects, most suited to mixed-usedevelopment.

Local DevelopmentFramework (LDF)

A collection of local development documents produced by the local planning authority which collectively form the spatialplanning strategy for its area.

Local EnterprisePartnerships (LEP)

Locally-owned partnerships between local authorities and businesses, which will play a central role in determining localeconomic priorities and undertaking activities to drive economic growth and the creation of local jobs.

Local Housing Allowance Housing benefit usually paid to people who rent in the private rented sector.

Local Housing Authorities Authorities with direct responsibility for delivering housing within their areas. In Kent, this is the Districts and Boroughsand Medway.

Local Housing Strategy Statutory document produced by local housing authorities setting out their future local housing priorities, including keyhousing issues such affordable housing, homelessness and property condition.

Local Investment Plans(LIP)

Plans developed by housing and planning authorities in partnership with the Homes and Communities Agency, which setout local priorities for infrastructure to support economic and housing growth. There are 4 LIPs covering Kent: EastKent, West Kent and Maidstone, North Kent and Ashford.

Local Lettings Plans Agreed local plans for the allocation and letting of homes within an agreed location. Often used for new developments toensure that a good balance of community is achieved.

Local Needs Housing Housing that meets the housing needs of the local community and businesses.

Local Planning Authorities Authorities with direct responsibility for delivering planning within their areas. In Kent, this is the Districts and Boroughsand Medway.

Localism Act 2011 Coalition government legislation which devolves greater powers to local councils and neighbourhoods, gives localcommunities control over housing and planning decisions and radically alters the social housing regime.

Medway SupportingPeople

Programme which helps vulnerable people in Medway to have a better quality of life by providing housing-related supportservices and helping them to move back to living independently.

Mixed-use Development Schemes which combine residential and commercial buildings on one development site.

Move-on Accommodation Longer-term, settled housing that vulnerable people move into when they leave supported housing or temporaryaccommodation.

Move-on Toolkit Guidance produced by the JPPB to help provide support and information for vulnerable tenants who move fromsupported housing into the private rented sector.

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National Home SwapScheme

Coalition government scheme that enables social and affordable rent tenants to mutually exchange their home withanother social or affordable rent home in the country.

National Landlords’Association

Independent national organisation for private residential landlords.

National Planning PolicyFramework

New national framework for the planning system in England, which has consolidated all previous national planningpolicies.

NEET Not in Employment, Education or Training.

NeighbourhoodDevelopment Orders

Used by local communities to permit the development they want to see - in full or in outline – without the need forplanning applications

Neighbourhood Plans General planning policies for the development and use of land in a neighbourhood, produced by local communitiesand/or parish councils.

NewBuy Coalition government initiative enabling First Time Buyers to purchase newbuild properties with a 5% deposit.

New Homes Bonus Scheme Coalition government scheme whereby local authorities receive match-funding for 6 years of the council tax generatedby every new home they build or empty one they bring back into use.

No Use Empty A Kent-wide initiative which helps to being empty properties across the County back into use.

Office for BudgetResponsibility

Independent organisation which makes assessments of the public finances and the economy, the public sector balancesheet and the long term sustainability of the public finances.

Policy Framework for LaterLife

Kent-wide strategy that sets out how people in Kent want to live their later lives and what they want from public andcommunity services and facilities.

Private Accredited LettingScheme

Accreditation scheme operated in Ashford, Tunbridge Wells and Sevenoaks which aims to encourage and supportlandlords in attaining and maintaining good standards when privately letting their properties.

Private Registered Providers Non-local authority providers of social and affordable housing, including rent and low cost home ownership options.

Public Land Land owned by public sector organisations.

Regional Growth Fund A £1.4bn 3 year Fund that will operate across England to stimulate private sector led sustainable economic growth andemployment.

Regional Spatial Strategy Document that set out the spatial vision for a particularly region, including outlining housing targets for local housingauthorities. Due to be abolished under the Localism Act 2011.

Registered Providers All providers of social and affordable housing.

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Retrofit The installation of new technologies within existing properties to make them more energy efficient.

Right to Buy Government scheme that enables social housing tenants to purchase their homes at below market value.

Rural Homes:supporting Kent’s ruralcommunities

Kent-wide Protocol developed by Kent Housing Group and Kent Rural Board to help facilitate and enable the delivery oflocal needs rural housing.

s.106 Agreement A legal agreement under section 106 of the 1990 Town & Country Planning Act between a planning authority and adeveloper, which ensure that certain extra works related to a development are undertaken. They tend to be used tosupport the provision of services and infrastructure, such as highways, recreational facilities, education, health andaffordable housing.

Savings at Home Joint project between Kent County Council, the Environment Agency and Ashford Borough Council to help Ashford’sresidents save water, energy and money.

Secured by Design An award scheme, run by the Association of Chief Police Officers which aims to encourage housing developments todesign out crime at the planning stage.

Shared Equity Scheme whereby a person buys a property using a low cost loan provided by the government, which buys the governmenta stake in the equity of the property.

Shared Ownership Form of low-cost home ownership, whereby a person buys a share of their home and pays a rent on the remaining share.

Social Innovation Labfor Kent (SILK)

A KCC-based hub that looks to put citizens at the heart of innovation and service design.

South East Plan The Regional Spatial Strategy for the South East, due to be abolished under the Localism Act.

South East RegionalDesign Panel

Organisation established by the South East of England Regional Development Agency to provide independent, expertappraisals on the quality of design proposals for substantial development projects.

Stamp Duty Land Tax A tax of between 1% and7% that is normally paid when a property valued at more than £125K is purchased.

Strategic HousingMarket Assessment(SHMA)

A cross-boundary study of the operation of Housing Market Areas.

SuccessfulCommunities

Communities with a mix of tenure, income levels and household types, supported through appropriate infrastructure andcommunity development initiatives and resources.

Supported Housing Accommodation provided to vulnerable people assessed by the local authority as being in need of residential care.

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Tax Increment Financing (TIF) A method whereby local authorities can borrow against future gains in business rates to finance currentdevelopment.

Telecare Innovative technology project piloting the use of specialised equipment to help people in Kent with chronicdiseases to better manage their own health needs.

Tenancy Strategies Strategy required to be produced by local housing authorities setting out issues that private registered providersshould have regard to when setting their own tenancy policies, including the type and length of tenancies they willgrant.

Under-occupationWhere a household has decreased in size and their property is now too big for them.

Universal Credit A new form of benefit to be introduced in 2013 which will bring all existing benefits for working age people,including housing benefit, into one.

Unlocking Kent’s Potential KCC’s Framework for Regeneration. This sets out an overarching assessment of the key opportunities andchallenges facing the County over the coming years emphasises the links between economic growth, improved skillslevels, better quality housing, effective transport infrastructure and the need to adapt to the changing demands of agrowing population.

Valuing People Now Government strategy for people with learning disabilities which says that people with learning disabilities have thesame rights and choices in life as any other person.

Vision for Kent Kent’s county-wide strategy, setting out how Kent authorities will work together to improve the economic, socialand environmental well-being of Kent communities over the next 20 years.

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Regeneration ProjectsInvicta House, Maidstone, Kent ME14 1XX

www.kent.gov.uk www.kenthousinggroup.org.uk

Tel: 01622 696937

This document is available in alternative formats and can be explained in a range of languages. Please call 01622 696937 for details.