We want to know what makes a place great to live, and how housing associations can help deliver thriving and resilient communities across the country.
When I think of great places, I’m not just thinking of them in an academic or professional sense. I have skin in the game on this one. As do all housing professionals and leaders. The vision for the sector, Ambition to Deliver, says that by 2033 the following statement will be true: 'If you want a great place to live, come to a housing association.'
What is the Great Places programme?
The National Housing Federation's Great Places programme will address the specific housing challenges associated with the North and the Midlands.
We are looking at places where, unlike London which has a severe shortage of housing, the housing stock might exist, but there are issues of quality and location. These are places that have experienced economic decline and suffer from a lack of transport links, infrastructure and opportunities.
Through Great Places, we will identify and understand the challenges these places face, as well as exploring the factors that contribute to thriving and resilient communities. We'll be exploring how housing associations, in partnership with residents, community groups, the Government, local authorities, private companies and not-for-profit organisations, can create or rebuild great places to live across the country.
Housing associations are united by a single purpose – to ensure everyone in the country has the opportunity to live in a quality home that they can afford. This is about more than housing, it's about creating places people want to live in and where they can succeed.
As part of our Ambition to Deliver, Great Places will focus on the importance of creating communities that people want to live in across England.
Visit our blog to find out about our progress and hear from some of the people we've met throughout this process.
Some places need more than new build housing to help them prosper. They need proper jobs, skills training, patient, long-term capital investment and sometimes more radical solutions.
What do we want to achieve?
We want to know what makes a place great to live in, and how we as housing associations can help deliver thriving and resilient communities across the country.
Through the Great Places programme, we want to:
- capture the knowledge and expertise from within and outside the housing sector, and use this to share good practice and influence Government policy
- demonstrate that housing associations are key local economic partners and can make an important contribution to delivering thriving and resilient communities
- engage with stakeholders from across the political spectrum, organisations within the housing sector and beyond, and local communities to explore how we can work together to create great places to live.
In November 2018, the Great Places Commission published its interim report, detailing its findings so far and inviting feedback from any organisations involved in creating great places to live.
Get in touch with us to tell us about the work you're doing to make your places great.
What singles housing associations out from other housing providers is that we are rooted in our communities – and we invest in places and people for the long haul.
How will we do it?
This work is led by the Great Places Commission, a group of leaders from across the sector with direct experience of place making and regeneration in the North and the Midlands.
The Commissioners will visit successful and struggling places in the Midlands and North, where they will engage with residents, community groups, representatives from local government, academia, business and civil society, among others.
The Commission will use this insight to build an evidence-based understanding of what makes a place better, and share this through a series of recommendations.
Why now?
We believe this is the right time for us to be doing this work. We recognise that solving the housing crisis means different things across the country. It is about increasing supply in some areas, but in others it is about identifying areas that aren't performing to their full potential and exploring how we can revitalise these.
With creating great places to live at the heart of our sector vision, housing associations are committed to playing their role in delivering thriving and resilient communities.
In the wider context, we also recognise that leaving the EU will lead to a loss of vital funding in some of the poorest parts of the country. Meanwhile, questions are being asked around the country about whether certain decisions are best made in Westminster or should be devolved to local authorities. We want to be part of these conversations.
I know the heart of the vision will emerge primarily from those who live and work in their communities. Our task will be to collect those contributions, to offer some ideas to all those who care about people flourishing in our society.
Get involved in Great Places
We're really keen to hear from members and other organisations who are already doing great work in this area.