The Week in Housing: Strategic partners announced, the future of Section 106 and what it all means for social housing delivery

One immediate step being taken is that councils in England are to receive £46m over the next three years to strengthen their capacity to build and buy new social homes.

One other stumbling block to delivery in recent years has been Section 106. The SAHP policy document promises to consult on a standard Section 106 template. The full state of the Section 106 market, and the scale of the challenge, is laid bare in Inside Housing’s Section 106 tracker, which published last week and reveals who is buying homes, as well as evidence of another year of decline for Section 106.

As for England’s mayoral authorities, which are clearly going to play a bigger role in future delivery, housing minister Matthew Pennycook this week said that mayors need new powers to push through planning applications as the government launches a consultation on the proposals.

All of which leaves one other gap: London. If Homes England published its list of strategic partners for the rest of England, what then of the capital?

There was a big indication of what the future holds for delivery in the city this week too, with news that 60% of London’s first-wave SAHP cash will go directly to councils.

It came in the week that the London Assembly’s Budget and Performance Committee also pressed the mayor for greater transparency over the financial performance of its wholly owned land and property company.

There was also an important reminder that it is not just a question of numbers when it comes to housing, with London Assembly members warning that extreme heat in homes poses a health risk for more than one million children.

On top of stories and analysis relating to all of the above, we gathered together a full range of reaction to the SAHP announcement from the 33 strategic partners, outlining what difference the money will make to them and the communities they serve.

And if the changes to the SAHP represent a new era of ‘Manchesterism’, we went to the heart of Mr Burnham’s old patch to speak to the new chair of the Manchester Housing Providers Partnership about what a Burnham government means, and the partnership’s hopes – and asks – for the future.

Elsewhere, there was the conclusion to a heartbreaking inquest this week into the death of five-year-old Aalim Ahmed, who fell from a council tower block window. Coroner Ian Wade concluded that there was no basis for issuing a report to prevent future deaths. There is, however, much for landlords to reflect on from this tragic case.

In regulation news, two landlords in England became the latest to be awarded the top consumer grade in the Regulator of Social Housing’s latest regulatory judgements.

We also took a detailed look at how supported housing providers are making the tenant satisfaction measures work in practice (they are typically reporting higher levels of satisfaction than other landlords, for example).

When it comes to building safety, there was also a significant moment for the road ahead, with the Building Safety Regulator appointing the chair of its statutory residents’ panel.

And the National Housing Federation stressed the need for clearer Awaab’s Law guidance in its evidence to the National Audit Office’s review of social housing.

In Scotland, the Scottish Housing Regulator revealed that there had been a rise in notifiable risk events over the past year.

And there was big news for housing delivery in Scotland, as the SNP administration set out details about how it plans to modernise compulsory purchase orders during this parliament. However, there was some challenge this week to the new Scottish government to send out “stronger signals that housing remains a priority”.

There was an important moment in Edinburgh too, as the city council agreed to resume its allocations policy after it was temporarily suspended to address the homelessness crisis in the city.

Allocations were also under discussion in England, with Reform’s plans to put foreign-born citizens further down waiting lists branded a move that will “stoke division” by housing charity Shelter. Earlier this month we took a detailed look at the implications of plans by both Reform and the Conservative Party to ban all “foreign nationals” from social housing.

In terms of delivery in Northern Ireland, this week brought the news that most Northern Ireland councils have missed legal targets for planning decisions as applications fall to a record low.

And in London, the second major housing association in two months completed a multimillion-pound sale of its private rented business. The Notting Hill Genesis deal, trailed in our interview with its chief executive Patrick Franco last year, followed hot on the heels of L&Q’s sale of its private rented sector business to an investment fund for just over £1bn in June.

There was a different kind of deal between A2Dominion and Vivid, as the landlords agreed a stock transfer of nearly 600 homes this week.

And finally, the chief development officer at Clarion Housing Group, which picked up the highest possible allocation in this week’s SAHP, issued a reminder that in a tough operating environment it is crucial for all social landlords to make sure sustainability issues don’t get sidelined. The housing association’s chief executive, Clare Miller, warned this week that residents will face a further squeeze on their finances after regulator Ofgem said its energy price cap will rise 4% from October.

Martin Hilditch, editor, Inside Housing

Editor’s picks: five stories you may have missed:

As the government consults on a new Section 106 template, our exclusive data reveals who is buying these homes

How supported housing providers are making the TSMs work

Is the government prepared to consider different funding models for new towns?

100 days in, Scotland is still waiting for its new government to commit on housing

S&P revises West Midlands landlord’s outlook to ‘stable’ to reflect ‘strong merger progress’