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Housing and Regeneration Bill

This group of amendments relates to part 1 of the Bill, which is concerned with the creation of the Homes and Communities Agency. We had some excellent debates in Committee on the role of the agency, its powers and its relations with other bodies. That debate was continued, with knowledge and expertise, in the other place, so I believe that the Bill has been much improved during its passage through Parliament. The world has changed in economic terms in the six months since we debated the Bill in Committee, but I would like the Bill, and the Homes and Communities Agency, to be as future-proof as possible, and the amendments help to establish that. Lords amendment No. 1 adds the term ““good design”” to clause 2, which concerns the objects of the Homes and Communities Agency. That is a welcome step and puts good design at the heart of what the agency will seek to achieve, and into the context of sustainable development. There was a strong debate in Grand Committee in the other place about the importance of good design. Design costs are a relatively small proportion of overall build costs; however, the costs of poor design are high. It is becoming ever more apparent that good design attracts people, investment and activity to places. Conversely, poor design and poor quality act as a real barrier to prosperity and sustainability. Planning policy statement 1 states:"““Good design ensures attractive, usable, durable and adaptable places and is a key element in achieving sustainable development.””" The importance of good design, therefore, is already enshrined in national planning guidance. However, I am pleased that design is now in the objects of the agency, acknowledging its importance and allowing the considerable powers and resources of the agency to be used for the purposes of good design. The very first amendment that we discussed in the Public Bill Committee was one tabled by the right hon. Member for North-West Hampshire (Sir George Young), whom I am delighted to see in his place, and it was about improving the accessibility of new housing, particularly for the disabled or for the increasingly older population. The right hon. Gentleman mentioned the future demographics of this country. He stated that over the next 20 years, the number of disabled and older people will increase by roughly two thirds. About 329,000 disabled people are living in housing that is not suited to their requirements. I remember vividly what the right hon. Gentleman said in Committee. He may not have thought so, but it had a huge impact on my thinking, and I am keen to help. That is why I—as honorary patron of the Access Association for the north-east—and I hope the right hon. Gentleman as well, welcome Lords amendment No. 2, which will clarify that the term ““good design”” includes design"““which has due regard to the needs of elderly persons and disabled persons””." A key theme of the deliberations on part 1 of the Bill throughout its passage has been the relationship between the agency and its key partners, particularly those in local government. Critics of the Bill and the agency have often stated that the HCA will be a large, centrally driven quango, imposing top-down targets and riding roughshod over the needs and wishes of local communities. That is precisely not what we wish to achieve through the agency. It was never our intention. We have always maintained that a key test of the agency's success will be the manner in which it partners local authorities in the delivery of new housing and the regeneration of communities throughout England.