There is a call today for stronger cooperation between housing associations and private house builders in a guide to good partnership practice for developing mixed tenure communities. The review of mixed-tenure agreements is being made available free of charge as part of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation’s work on easing the increasingly severe shortages of housing predicted for the next 20 years.It has been produced by Martin Willey, of the strategic regeneration consultants YTP and colleagues at specialist solicitors firm Bevan Ashford. They note evidence from JRF research that ‘planning gain’ procedures are not as effective as they could be in securing a plentiful supply of affordable housing. The guide then demonstrates how housing associations can establish a more positive relationship with house builders and cooperate with local authority planners in creating sustainable, mixed tenure developments.

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A report today is highlighting five critical issues to which government departments must pay careful attention if the extra 61 billion pounds to be spent on improving public services over the next three years is to have its full impact. The report from the head of the National Audit Office, Sir John Bourn, says it is too early to tell whether the increased funding will deliver all the planned improvements.The report looks at the preparations made by the sections getting the three largest increases – the Departments for Education and Skills, Health and Transport – to use their extra resources. This study will provide a baseline for future NAO reports assessing the actual improvements that are achieved, as the additional funding begins to take effect.

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Enterprise Zones have featured in the United Kingdom’s urban regeneration policies since the early 1980′s. Many of the 38 zones have reached the end of their life-cycle and the programme is due to end in 2006. The zones provide a range of benefits to the developers, investors and occupiers of industrial and commercial properties.This study by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister shows that Enterprise Zones have succeeded in stimulating new enterprise and in encouraging the growth of existing enterprises. One of the main conclusions is that in order to have any real impact on the regeneration of deprived areas through attracting private investment, the benefits offered to investors have to be significant. Tax based incentives are essential if developers are to be encouraged to construct buildings in areas of perceived low demand and if investors are to be encouraged to invest. The general view of people in the areas was that without the zone approach the economic and social conditions would have been far worse.

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