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Housing market renewal

CABE worked closely with the partnerships and local authorities involved in the housing market renewal programme from 2003 to 2009, advising on issues related to urban design, housing quality and sustainable development.

The link between the quality of environment and economic and social vitality is particularly important in the places that were designated in 2003 as housing market renewal areas. The need to understand the value of investing in good design and design-led processes was arguably greater here than elsewhere, as the likelihood of exacerbating existing problems through poor quality development are magnified in places at risk of market failure.

CABE’s work with the partnerships, local authorities and local communities planning and delivering housing-led regeneration in these areas was an important contribution to:

  • creating a wider understanding of the social, environmental and economic benefits of good design and quality of place
  • exploring the organisational structures and initiatives that would be needed to promote a quality agenda in a funding programme such as HMR
  • making the links between spatial planning, quality of place and targetted investment in both new and refurbished housing and wider environmental improvements
  • developing methods of engaging a range of different people in the complex issues surrounding market renewal
  • seeking to promote a positive image for the good work that was being done in the programme
  • in conjunction with other national organisations, highlighting, critiquing and seeking to resolve some of the adverse impacts on communities and places that resulted from some of the intervention in the HMR programme
  • celebrating and rewarding innovation

Guidance and design policy

When housing market renewal started in 2003 there was little guidance on the role of design in creating high quality places in the areas of decline. Working with a variety of partners, CABE helped to develop key publications to fill this gap.

Key reports issued by other organisations include:

  • Housing market renewal (National Audit Office, 2007)
  • Building houses or creating communities? (Sustainable Development Commission, 2007)
  • Housing market renewal: programme review (Audit Commission, 2009)

Support for housing market renewal partnerships

Through its enabling and Space enabling programmes, and on behalf of the Department of Communities and Local Government, CABE developed and delivered bespoke annual programmes of work in each housing market renewal area between 2003 and 2009. This was supported by the design review of key projects and the activities of CABE’s regional pilot programmes, particularly locally-embedded CABE staff in Pennine Lancashire, Liverpool and Tees Valley.

A major contribution to CABE’s promotion of learning and best practice within the HMR programme was the establishment of the design task group network in 2003. Regular events brought together practitioners with an interest in design, planning, heritage and sustainable development within the programme, with the group meeting 19 times over a six-year period.

CABE had a direct relationship with all of the housing market renewal partnerships, concentrated on developing an approach to design and place-making, raising aspirations and standards and building capacity within planning and delivery teams. This included:

  • advising on the commissioning of masterplans, spatial strategies and green space strategies
  • advising on the development of local policy to promote good design
  • helping to set in place bespoke design structures and initiatives
  • advising on procurement strategies and selection and appointment of preferred developer partners
  • advising on the funding and management of public realm
  • advising on embedding design standards, particularly Building for Life
  • providing bespoke training and capacity building
  • reviewing significant emerging proposals.

Best practice in housing market renewal

  • North Sheffield / Southey Owlerton area regeneration – this long-term project, which involved CABE support from its earliest days, is an excellent example of a large-scale community-led regeneration programme
  • South Yorkshire Delivering design quality initiative – CABE helped to set up this excellent resource and remained committed to it as a key partner through the life of the HMR programme in South Yorkshire
  • Canklow, Rotherham – this award-winning housing project is an example of what the Delivering design quality initiative helped to make happen
  • The Lyng, West Bromwich – this community-led regeneration project shows the role played by masterplanning in the programme
  • Selwyn Street, Oldham – a reinterpretation of traditional terraced housing to meet community needs, this early project in Oldham-Rochdale’s HMR programme set a high standard
  • Tancred Road and Skerries Street, Liverpool – an example of high quality terraced housing refurbishment
  • Northmoor, Manchester – housing remodelling and refurbishment on a neighbourhood scale
  • Grove Village, Manchester – part-refurbisment and part-new build, this PFI housing project demonstrates a design-led regeneration approach to a post-war housing estate in an HMR area
  • Chimney Pot Park, Salford – bold, innovative approaches to regeneration formed part of the HMR programme, as this project demonstrates
  • Ancoats and New Islington, Manchester ­– these examples show that investing in high quality public realm is as important for new places as it is for areas with strong heritage assets.