Out-Law News 1 min. read
11 Apr 2012, 6:13 pm
The HCA is on course to report a "very strong year of delivery", said Richie, who has looked at the Agency's preliminary end of year results. The results will now be audited and formally reported in June.
The HCA's target for the completion of new homes was 35,000 for 2011/2012, as set by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG). However, the HCA's housing starts and completions are treated as "official statistics", so cannot be reported until May or June, following an audit.
“Despite the backdrop of continued economic uncertainty and a period of great change for the Agency, I am pleased to report that we have nevertheless met or exceeded our delivery targets, as these figures show," said Ritchie.
Results for the first six months of the year showed that only 454 affordable homes had been started in 2011/2012, which is a drop of 13,172 homes on the same period the year before.
In the full 2010/11 financial year, the HCA started work on 57,605 new homes, exceeding its target of 34,982 by 65 per cent. It also exceeded its housing completion targets by 1,747.
The HCA has announced that it exceeded its targets for reclaiming previously developed land; it reclaimed 182 hectares against a target of 160 hectares. The aim of the Agency's property and regeneration programme is to bring redundant land back into use and to remove "unsightly" derelict land from communities.
The Agency also announced that it had transferred 640 hectares of other land, including wildlife areas; country parks, and other public green space, to community and charity ownership. It has transferred the land with endowments estimated at £40 million to help maintain the land.
The HCA’s total programme investment for the year was within budget at £2.3bn. This included £1.2bn of spending on the National Affordable Housing Programme (NAHP), it said.
The HCA has built 149,000 square metres of employment space, against a target of 87,000 sq m and has delivered all programmes within in its budget.
“The year to come will be nonetheless challenging as we continue to deliver on all these key areas of the Agency’s business," said Ritchie. "Alongside the AHP we will be implementing the new Regulatory Framework, prioritising the accelerated delivery of land, and getting stalled sites moving again through Get Britain Building; all of which will be set against the Government policy landscape, particularly around Core Cites, growth and localism."
