Themes

Regions

Housing

"without further action housing will become one of the greatest sources of social inequality in the next 20 years….Every part of the country needs more affordable homes - in the north and the south, in urban and rural communities… We need more homes - but we need better designed, more sustainable homes." Yvette Cooper, Housing Minister speaking at the launch of the housing green paper July 2007. 

The government has recognised the need for major investment in more affordable and more sustainable homes.  The Prime Minister has announced the need for 3 million more homes by 2020 and has set out a pledge of an additional three billion investment for housing.  Spiraling house prices and a lack of affordable homes provide a major challenge.  The picture on the ground is more complex however and includes areas of poor quality neighbourhoods plagued by low employment and incomes, limited aspirations and a decaying infrastructure.  Bricks and mortar are only part of the answer.  The major issue for the housing policymaker and practitioner is being able to tailor their approach to meet the needs of local communities.  This is the only way to ensure that the benefits of intervention are long term.  Factoring in the full range of social, economic and environmental issues is essential to meet the objective of creating sustainable communities.

ECOTEC's dedicated housing team is experienced in working with local authorities and national and regional agencies to develop and implement housing and planning policy.  We work with housing associations and local authorities to support business planning and asset management and with a range of sub-regional partnerships to understand markets and develop policies and strategies to support sustainable and successful communities.

ECOTEC can help you: 

  • Understand and define your housing market;
  • Carry out Strategic Housing Market Assessment
  • Prepare housing investment programmes;
  • Develop your housing strategy and policy;
  • Understand market change – migration, private rented sector, affordability;
  • Evaluate your effectiveness;
  • Plan and manage your activities.

Service Portfolio: Urban Living Green Book Appraisals

Evaluation

Building on our considerable experience of appraisal and evaluation, ECOTEC has recently developed particular expertise in undertaking economic and options appraisals, utilising the Green Book methodology, for Housing Market Renewal projects.

The Green Book is the HM Treasury guidance on appraisal and evaluation, designed to ensure policies, programmes and projects are not adopted without having first considered whether there are (a) better ways to achieve objectives, and (b) better uses for resources.

Ahead of the 2007 Comprehensive Spending Review, the likely devolution of HMR funding decisions to the regions, and looking ahead to the 2008-2010 HMR funding period, ECOTEC has helped the Urban Living HMR Pathfinder to look in detail at three individual projects in order to reappraise:


  • strategic fit and contribution to HMR objectives
  • whether alternative approaches might achieve better results
  • cost effectiveness - in terms of costs and benefits - of resource allocations
    broader social, environmental and regeneration benefits
  • associated risk and sensitivity to changing market imperatives
  • potential opportunities for mainstreaming of projects

clare.tostevin@ecotec.com
+44 161 238 4965


Other projects in this Portfolio