Homes England has partnered with the Building Research Establishment (BRE) and the Design Council to develop a strategic framework.
The agency, tasked by the Government to increase the number of new homes that are built in England, including affordable homes, is also looking to improve existing affordable homes and bringing empty homes back into use as affordable housing
Homes England's Chair, Peter Freeman, said: “This framework and the partnership between the three industry-leading organisations will set an ambitious, long-term roadmap for Homes England to leverage its leadership and convening role in the housebuilding sector.
“This work will build on the existing good practice already underway at Homes England, such as the agency’s work with Design for Homes, NHS England, and NHS Improvement to produce the design quality assessment tool Building for a Healthy Life.
“We are absolutely committed to using our influence and expertise to drive up the quality and pace of sustainable development.”
The agency also aims to increase the supply of public land and speeding up the rate that it can be built on, whilst also helping to stimulate local economic growth by using its land and investment, and attracting private sector investment in local areas.
Mr Freeman said despite the pandemic, it had been able to support over 37,000 starts on-site, nearly 35,000 completions and an 11% increase in the number of social rented homes built last year.
Most recently it has invested over £175m acquiring 17 new sites towards the end of the last financial year.
“These new sites will support over 7,400 new homes across 400 hectares of land, bringing with them a range of green and social infrastructure, including schools, retail and community facilities,” explained Mr Freeman.
“By bringing these sites into our ownership we will use our resources to unblock them, get them shovel-ready and back on the market so that housebuilders and housing associations can build them out to the design quality standards we set.
“Providing this steady pipeline of sites is one of many ways in which we are providing certainty to the industry, particularly the smaller end of the sector.
“We recently opened bidding for the Government’s new affordable housing fund.
“The fact that ministers have been able to secure a £12.2bn Affordable Homes Programme outside of what was clearly a challenging Spending Review is very good news for the sector.
“As we start to recover from the pandemic and rebuild a more productive economy, we are learning that the “new normal” will be very different from the past.
“We must make progress towards a zero-carbon society. We are realising that our children, and their children, will not thank us if we continue to build poorly designed homes and places. We are recognising that the way we develop neighbourhoods, towns and cities is key to our health and well-being.
“As we look to the future, building the homes the country needs to unlock opportunity and growth will be crucial, but the pursuit of those ambitions can’t be just a numbers game.
“We are more likely to win the argument for new, extended and rejuvenated settlements across the country precisely by promoting well-designed, connected, vibrant places where people can prosper through the different stages of their lives.”
