Briefing Paper jointly produced by the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) and the Improvement and Development Agency (IDeA) to support housing professionals and local authority elected members to be more effective in the delivery of their strategic housing functions in the context of the Local Area Agreement Framework introduced by the local government white paper, Strong and Prosperous Communities.

The paper identifies issues regarding fully representing housing within LAA development and provides case studies illustrating different strategic approaches taken by local authorities to achieving priority outcomes for their communities.

In 2005 the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) introduced a work programme aimed at supporting the development of the strategic housing function of local authorities. Its work was also intended to raise the profile of this function at local, regional and national levels.

The first output of this work was Visionary Leadership in Housing:

In 2006, CIH arranged a succession of regional seminars, supported by Communities and Local Government, the Housing Corporation and the Lyons Inquiry team.

The CIH and the Improvement and Development Agency (IDeA) have collaborated to present case studies from local authority areas which have used the Local Area Agreement process to deliver a strategic approach to housing and explores how this helps achieve priority outcomes for a locality and the skills required to do this successfully.

Local Area Agreements (LAAs) are now the principal means by which local strategic priorities are set and delivered in England. By taking a positive view of engaging with LAA development, housing strategists will deliver improvements for local residents.

However, perceived barriers to engagement between the strategic housing function and LAAs include understanding where housing fits within the four blocks of the LAA; housing market areas not usually being coterminous with higher tier authority boundaries and the limited involvement of the strategic housing officer in areas where this is a relatively junior grade.

Chartered Institute of Housing
Phone: +44(0)24 7685 1700
customer.services@cih.org

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/02/2007

Sheila Lewis, Volanti Consulting

research

Urban Policy

Social inclusion & integration, Housing