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Council-Led Housing Forum
CGI Image of Barrie Close Mews. Coulsdon, South Croydon by Brick by Brick. Courtesy of Pitman Tozer Architects
Responding to increasing housing targets, tightening budgets and the desire to retain assets for long-term revenue, local authorities are once again starting to build their own homes.
New approaches such as wholly owned development companies or in-house teams are being set up across the capital, but lack of cross-authority support, capacity and skills is preventing authorities reaching their full potential.
As part of the Mayor’s Building Council Homes for Londoners initiative, this forum is providing technical advice to practitioners involved in the council-led delivery of homes. Boroughs that are pioneering delivery in-house or through housing companies, housing associations and independent experts share skills, experience and lessons learned, including pitfalls to avoid. The Council-Led Housing Forum encourages delegates to share their own experiences to build a strong knowledge base across the forum, with the ultimate aim of speeding up housing delivery.
Who is the forum for?
These free events are for local authority staff managing housing delivery projects day to day. The programme covers partnerships/special purpose vehicles (i.e. non-estate regeneration) wholly owned companies and direct delivery through Housing Revenue Accounts (HRA).
Borough legal, finance and property teams and Housing Associations are actively encouraged to take part as appropriate.
If you’d like to learn more, contact Visakha Sri Chandrasekera, Council-Led Housing Forum Manager visakha@futureoflondon.org.uk
‘I head up a direct delivery team working in partnership with a London Authority with big ambitions to develop the next generation of council homes. The Council-Led Housing Forum events are helping us to do this, being both insightful and illuminating.’
Meera Bedi, Head of Development (New Build), Barnet Homes
‘Thanks for putting this series on, I think they have been the most relevant and interesting sessions I have ever attended. I really enjoyed the discussion and I have gained some great tips to supplement my knowledge.’
Simon Griffin, Project Manager, City of Westminster
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