Start work on shaping housing markets now, ahead of duty in 2012: CIH

Local authorities should start work now on understanding and shaping their housing markets with partners, regardless of the expected duty to have a tenancy strategy in 2012, a report by the Chartered Institute of Housing has argued.

The report, The local authority role in housing markets, said councillors needed support to understand the possible impact of current proposals on their local housing markets and the options available to manage this impact positively. It also warned that some fundamental barriers to developing new housing remain, and action was needed to overcome them.

The report also concluded that:

• A whole market approach is needed when trying to understand and shape housing markets
• Approaches to shaping housing markets locally have to be “more holistic, dynamic and engaging”. Local partners also need to know which local powers and policies have and have not worked in the context of the wider housing market, the CIH said
• The process of developing a tenancy strategy – the market framework – offers an opportunity for a meaningful conversation with partners who have a stake in the local area. “There is still time to hold conversations with registered providers about affordable rent and fixed term tenancies, and these should be viewed as the start of more regular engagement,” the report said. It also suggested that local authorities must give housing strategies teeth if power does not come from legislation. “Working with local residents and other stakeholders will enable this.”

The CIH said it was concerned that local authorities were insufficiently involved with proposals for affordable rent and fixed term tenancies in their areas, and that pressures to deliver new homes in the short term were acting against focus on longer term sustainability.

CIH chief executive Sarah Webb said: "It's absolutely crucial that local authorities, registered providers, and commercial developers get talking about the local housing market and start planning for the future now. Many organisations are making big changes in the way they work in response to the new policy, funding and economic environment. The decisions taken now will impact on housing markets and communities for generations to come, and so they need to be well informed, understood by all partners, and coordinated at local level."