Inventing our future Collective action for a sustainable economy

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recommended in national guidance, to undertake local housing market assessments, and
to maintain a regular monitoring of markets so that local provision of different
affordable products can be matched closely with anticipated requirements.
8.40 Most affordable housing products can be created through both new construction and the
purchase of existing properties. However, while the latter may help in supplying need for
affordable housing, it does not normally add to the overall supply of properties in the Region.
Investment for new affordable housing in the East of England should generally follow sub-regional
and local housing strategies. Where strategies target rehabilitation of existing stock to
bring empty properties into use and generally contributing to regeneration, as a means
of addressing unfitness, or as a means of making communities more sustainable through
tenure diversification, public investment should follow this prioritisation, even if it
implies higher capital grant costs. Other than these very specific circumstances, capital
funding should normally only be used for affordable housing schemes that will add to
the overall stock of the Region.
Targeting investment products
8.41 For the longer-term, the East of England Plan provides a useful framework for considering
long-term need for different products.
8.42 As indicated earlier, the long-term requirement in the East of England for additional affordable
housing is around 11,000 homes per annum. Of this, around 8,500 are forecast to be required for
social rented housing, including the need to deal with the current backlog. The remainder would
be required to meet various needs in the intermediate market: some sub-market renting, but
mainly various forms of shared ownership.
8.43 In the short-term, other factors need to be taken into account, and the respective requirements
for different products need to be set out in sub-regional and local housing strategies. One key
factor in doing this will be the opportunities for investment already emerging from the work on
the supply-chain of housing schemes coming through the development pipeline. Another factor,
possibly influencing the choice of schemes for investment, will need to be Government initiatives
aimed at increasing the supply of intermediate housing products to help address recruitment and
retention problems among public-sector Key Workers.
Investment themes
8.44 All new affordable housing will meet the immediate housing needs of some of the Region’s
households. The potential schemes for investment are likely always to be more numerous than the
resources available for investment, and therefore often difficult decisions over the use of limited
resources will be required. The RHS aims to assist decision-makers in this task by helping
to structure their decision-making, and to set priorities. At the same time the intention is also to
provide a strong guide to those considering or designing schemes with the intention of
implementing the RHS and hence attracting public investment.
8.45 The approach adopted in the RHS is to relate all potential schemes for investment back to the
overall aims of the RHS, in terms of the outcomes they should help to bring about. In other words,
this approach looks beyond simply providing accommodation for people in need, and seeks to
achieve the broader goals being pursued within the East of England. For this purpose, outcomes
are considered in relation to several over-arching investment themes: this provides a structure for
organising and assessing them for possible inclusion in investment programmes.