Almshouses have been recognised in Government response to consultation on Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill 2023

As you are no doubt aware, there has been a significant debate on the National Planning Policy Framework. The Almshouse Association has called for this debate and is largely responsible for the questions in the debate around affordable housing definition. We believe that the charity model of almshouses should be included in this definition and have made that position ….. (probably tiresomely) clear to The Secretary of State. (many thanks to you all for your many letters.)

The results of that consultation were released on 20 December 2023 and can be accessed via:

Government response to the Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill: reforms to national planning policy consultation – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

You will see that we were influential in two aspects: Q26/27

More community-led developments

Question 26 â€“ Should the definition of ‘affordable housing for rent’ in the Framework glossary be amended to make it easier for organisations that are not Registered Providers – in particular, community-led developers and almshouses – to develop new affordable homes?

Response: A total of 1,052 respondents answered yes/no/indifferent to this question. Of those, 741 (70%) agreed with the proposal, 102 (10%) did not agree and 209 (20%) were indifferent.

Key points:

  • There was widespread agreement that community-led housing and almshouses have an important contribution to make in boosting housing supply and supporting affordable housing delivery.
  • The responses focused on the requirement in the current definition of ‘affordable housing for rent’ that the landlord must be a registered provider of social housing. That requirement is seen by some as a barrier to non-registered organisations providing new affordable housing.  Many responses suggested that the removal of the registered provider test is widely seen as being helpful in enabling more community-led groups and almshouses – and potentially other organisations – to deliver more housing.
  • There was widespread agreement that, in the absence of a registered provider test, some other strong safeguards would be needed to ensure good landlord practice, appropriate standards and appropriate pricing.
  • Several respondents suggested that the current registration scheme may be the best way of ensuring adequate standards are maintained.
  • In many cases, it was not clear from the responses that those who supported the proposal (that is, that the definition of ‘affordable housing for rent’ should be amended) were clear about why the current restrictions are in place. No respondents suggested that the removal of the registered provider test need to be accompanied by some other form of regulation or safeguarding of standards.
  • Although not explicitly asked within the question, many responses included comments about accommodation falling within the definition of affordable housing not being affordable in practice.

Government response:

This proposal was intended to support and encourage more community-led affordable housing to come forward, specifically through amending the National Planning Policy Framework glossary which defines ‘affordable housing for rent’. The Government has carefully considered the responses to the consultation and is grateful for the range of views received.

As a result of the responses, the government will consider – as part of future updates to the National Planning Policy Framework – whether the definition of ‘affordable housing for rent’ should now be amended to include homes of which the landlord is not a registered provider. In doing so, we will consider what alternative safeguards might be required to ensure that appropriate protections are in place for the residents who will live in those homes.

The Almshouse Association is working with The Department of Levelling, Communities and Housing to see how this translates into change that local and national government can use to support the almshouse model – a small step forward. We will keep you in informed

posted 21 December 2023