Call For New Housing Advice Quango

A panel of senior housing developers, academics and social landlords has recommended the government set up a Housing Advisory Committee in order to provide independent advice to solve the housing crisis. The group said a new independent body should be set up with a minimum 12-year life, working in the same way as the Migration Advisory Committee and the Committee on Climate Change to act as the authority on housing issues, evaluate possible solutions and champion policy change. The body would provide government with a menu of policy options to meet stated housing policy goals, such as increasing home ownership or reducing affordability problems. Read more on Housing Today.

https://www.housingtoday.co.uk/news/call-for-new-housing-advice-quango/5104693.article

Raab Immigration Calculations Sourced From Quango Abolished In 2010

Dominic Raab’s claim that immigration has pushed up house prices by 20% in 25 years relied on a model produced by a quango abolished in 2010, the government has said. The MHCLG, however, has refused to publish this model or the statistics produced from it. A spokesperson for the MHCLG said: “Basically, the figure was produced using an analytical model originally produced by the National Housing and Planning Advice Unit (NHPAU), which incorporates ONS [Office for National Statistics] housing supply statistics. “So it’s not something that can be found online – or in published stats. Our officials provided it to Mr Raab ahead of his interview.” Read more on Inside Housing.

https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:whMnFD4SHRoJ:https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/news/raab-immigration-calculations-sourced-from-quango-abolished-in-2010-55685+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk&safe=vss

Quango Cull Will Not Achieve Savings

The government’s ‘bonfire of the quangos’ has been badly managed and will not achieve the intended savings, a committee of MPs has found. In a report, the Public Administration Committee says there was no ‘meaningful consultation’ on plans to reduce the number of non-departmental public bodies, and tests used to identify which quangos should go were not applied in a uniform manner. A number of housing bodies are to be axed as a result of the government cull, including social housing regulator the TSA, and the Audit Commission. The select committee report says legislation to enact the plans has been badly drafted, and is being ‘significantly re-written’ in the House of Lords. It suggests the government may struggle to implement the changes it has set out because of their complexity. Read more on Inside Housing.