MIPIM | Homes England chief maps out vision for reaching 1.5m homes
Eamonn Boylan is hoping to restructure the way the organisation works from within and leave a lasting legacy that will provide a springboard for delivery when he vacates his post for the next permanent chief executive of the government’s housing and regeneration agency.
Speaking to Place North at MIPIM, Homes England chief executive Boylan outlined on how he would like his tenure to be reflected on in the future.
“I would hope I am remembered for laying a platform and for moving an agency which, very understandably, had been constructed to work in a particular way [and] that needed to pivot in order to respond to a different political, environmental, and economic challenge.”
Making an impression
Boylan was appointed as interim chief executive in January following the departure of former CEO Peter Denton.
While Boylan’s role is not a long term one, the former Greater Manchester Combined Authority chief exec is determined to make an impact.
“The reason I’ve been asked to fill in is to make some change and to try and make certain that we are more regionally focused, more locally engaged, and more holistically engaged,” he said.
“I’m not going to be sitting minding the shop. I’m very, very clear that we do need to make some significant progress during the course of this year.”
Looking locally
Homes England has an instrumental role to play delivering the government’s ambitious 1.5m homes target. To do so within the stated timescale – before the end of the parliament – will require a huge amount of effort and change within the organisation and wider industry.
While the task in hand is clear, Boylan is not advocating for a one-size-fits-all approach to housing delivery.
There’s no point in putting forward a blueprint that says that will work [the same way] everywhere, from Cornwall to Greater Manchester. It simply won’t,” he said.
“We need to be clear about how we adapt and how we shape the offer and the approach, to really lock into the ambitions and the capabilities of places.”
National v Local
Homes England has benefited from the roll out of devolution nationally as it gives the agency a direct line into the plans of city regions via elected mayors. However, Boylan recognises that, while a tailored approach to each area is required, Homes England must not lose sight of its duty to perform nationally.
“We need to make certain that we’re maintaining the national capabilities that we need, because some of our national housing providers do not want to be having separate conversations with a whole load of different authorities,” he said.
“It’s a balancing act for us to try and make certain that we are responding to the needs of the emerging capabilities of the city regions but at the same time staying true to the need for an excellent national agency that can support those big providers in both the public and private sectors.”
Modern Methods of Construction
One approach to ramping up the delivery of housing in the UK is to better integrate modern methods of construction, an industry that has the manufacturing capability to scale up, providing it has clear sight of a pipeline.
Boylan is on board with this in theory, but said past failings need to be interrogated to ensure they are not repeated.
“I think it certainly has a role to play but we need to recognize why MMC has struggled to date,” he said.
“Where you’re trying to introduce effectively, a production line methodology into a wildly cyclical marketplace, you’re in the position of some difficulty and challenge.”
The government’s New Towns programme, one of many Labour initiatives aimed at driving growth and delivering on its 1.5m homes target, could be a good fit for MMC, Boylan said.
“We need to create a platform of certainty where we can look forward to a five or 10-year funding horizon ideally that is going to enable us to have the confidence that actually there is that pipeline of demand that can sustain the investment that will be needed in the production capability to put MMC really on the map.”
Boylan bristled when asked how developers currently struggling to deliver viable schemes could hope to meet the government’s ambitious targets.
“Are you saying we should reduce our aspirations because it is hard?” he asked.
“If there was a very clear route [to reaching the 1.5m target] I’m sure everyone would be rejoicing exploiting that route to the full. It’s complicated, it’s messy, it’s difficult.”
One factor that could help smooth the path is some clear thinking at a local level, he said.
“I think we really need to be clear on what our priorities are, because at the moment, we’re trying to push water uphill in too many places,” he said.
“We just need to be very, very clear about what are the things that will unlock growth in this region, in this city, and that we want to really put our shoulders behind.”
Paying for the 1.5m
Boylan said the kind of long-term capital that can be provided by pension funds – increasingly interested in the living sector – will be vital to paying for the next generation of homes.
However, he conceded that funding to unlock sites would likely have to come from the public sector.
One of his aims is to explore new funding models that take into account the very nature of the development process and demand less early on.
“We need to find funding models and partnerships that can work in a way that recognises the needs of both the public sector and the needs of the private sector to make a reasonable return.
“Are there models that we can use that effectively recognize the fact that we need upfront investment…but where there be a realistic proposition of recovering that once value has been delivered in the scheme itself, rather than demanding that up front?
“We have done in so many cases over the years and that’s why we’ve got a large number of stalled sites.”
