The 2009/10 programme review occurs during a period of economic and organisational change that is unique in the pathfinders’ short history. The environment has changed profoundly, impacting on the underlying strategic and operating assumptions that shaped the design of the Housing Market Renewal (HMR) programme. The policy environment has also shifted. In October 2010, the government announced that the HMR programme will end in March 2011 - just eight years into what was originally envisaged as a 10 to 15-year programme.
In this review we look back at the original objectives and explore recent progress and performance in the current challenging economic context, providing a cumulative assessment of the overall impact of the programme. We then consider how HMR can adapt to ensure continued relevance as local partnerships seek to continue prioritised interventions in the absence of national dedicated funding.
The report covers:
- HMR ambitions and summary progress;
- the changed economic context in which it is now operating;
- pathfinders’ recent achievements within the current economic climate;
- HMR key outcome measures and market trends;
- HMR value for money;
- the future for HMR; and
- our conclusions.
It recommends that:
- national government and the HCA should determine how to invest limited resources within the Regional Growth Fund, and any other national decided investment streams, most effectively to support the resilience of failed market areas; and
- local partnerships should finalise options for structural change to pathfinder partnerships, ensuring that transitional arrangements do not detract from programme delivery and agreeing key principles to build on pathfinder achievements to date.
We have also published the Strategic review of progress 2010 with individual reports for 10 HMR Pathfinder projects.