Housing Minister kicks off review of Homes and Communities Agency

The Minister for Housing and Planning, Brandon Lewis, has launched a review of the Homes and Communities Agency.

In a written ministerial statement Lewis said the move was in line with the requirement on all Government Departments to regularly review non-departmental public bodies.

Established in 2008, the HCA is the national housing, land and regeneration agency and the regulator of registered social housing providers in England.

Lewis said: “The spending review underlined the priority this Government attach to our ambition to build a million homes this Parliament and to double the number of new homeowners.

“Building on the successful contribution the Homes and Communities Agency made in the last Parliament, this review will ensure that we are well-placed to deliver the Government’s objectives and will:

i) Examine the continuing need for a non-departmental public body, covering:

how each of the agency’s functions contributes to Government objectives;

whether each function and the body is still required; and

the best future delivery options.

ii) Examine the capacity of the Homes and Communities Agency to deliver more efficiently and effectively.

iii) Examine whether corporate governance and management arrangements are sufficiently robust and transparent and ensure that agency is operating in line with recognised principles of good corporate governance.”

The minister said the Government would be seeking evidence from a wide range of sources, including the agency itself, and there would be an opportunity for interested stakeholders to feed in views.