Bill Post: A dirge for the Durga that is Homes England

A rumour too good to check. Homes England is to be demolished. The 1,500-strong quango, encumbered with the fuzzy brief of “enabling” homes, may suffer the same fate as 14,400-strong NHS England, condemned to death by Keir Starmer in March. “For far too long, politicians have chosen to hide behind vast arrays of quangos,” said the PM as he brought down the axe. See how rumours start? Homes England resembles Durga, the multi-armed Hindu goddess. One arm handed out £1.7bn in grants in 2022/23, most to “enable” homes. Done by subsidising costs to a point where developers can make 20% profit, as well as provide “affordable” homes. This “enables” them to build. Critically, when they choose to do so. Other arms lend money, trade land, invest in businesses and keep a grip on the £19bn Help to Buy programme. The body? Draped in a sari of flimflam about “promoting the creation of high-quality homes in thriving places”.  ‘The organisation has suffered from mission creep,” says a former housing minister. “It has ballooned in terms of functions. There are a lot of good people there. But they could be just as effective inside the department.” Has the present housing minister, Matthew Pennycook, taken his cue from Starmer? The earnest MP for Greenwich has not appointed permanent replacements for the Tory-appointed chairman, property grandee Peter Freeman, or CEO, Peter Denton, both given the Black Spot in November. Two reliable Labour warhorses are now in harness. Esteemed board member, Pat Richie, was promoted to chair last week. Ex-Greater Manchester council boss Eamonn Boylan has been “interim” CEO since January. Hold your horses. Last June, Freeman told me and my co-author of Broken Homes, Jackie Sadek, that Homes England was regarded as the government’s “Swiss Army Knife”. A useful multipurpose tool. An external review gave the organisation a clean bill of health a month later. On 30 September, Pennycook told Freeman “the agency will play a vital part in delivering the government’s housing agenda”. Maybe so. Homes England pours millions into developments that won’t finish for decades –  because the private sector sets the pace. The £124m November rescue of the Barking Riverside development “enabling” 20,000 homes is an example. Forget “enable”. Try the “supply” of suitable homes at social rents for what the PM calls “hard-working families”. How about an annual target? How about bulk-buying finished homes? Peter Bill is a former editor of Estates Gazette Image © Colin Miller