NHC at UKREiiF – housing at the centre of northern growth  

The NHC took part in UKREiiF, the UK’s real estate and infrastructure forum, promoting the role of housing partnerships and regeneration in driving northern growth.  

We started off with a panel session Housing Partnerships: Unlocking Growth Across the North, chaired by our head of housing partnerships Satty Rai with housing partnership chairs Charlie Norman, John Jonson, Nick Atkin and Rachel Dennis.  

The session highlighted the breadth of offer from housing partnerships, with examples of working to together to create jobs and upskill communities, such as a skills academy in the North East, alongside focus on housing and regeneration. The links between housing and transport, including how new transport links can unlock new homes and regeneration were discussed. There was also reflection on how the different areas are at different stages in the devolution journey. Six years ago in Yorkshire there was no devolution, whereas in Manchester devolution is well established. There is a tripartite agreement between health, housing and the combined authority, and housing is embedded at the heart of the mayor’s ten-year strategy.  

NHC Executive Director (Policy and External Relations) Patrick Murray was on the panel for L&Q’s ‘10 Years of Good Growth in Greater Manchester’ session. Patrick highlighted how devolution and partnerships are critical to growth in the North. He gave an update on Renew, our inquiry which explored how housing-led regeneration can enable the housing sector in the North to do even more to deliver growth, help tackle the housing crisis, and create thriving communities across the North.  

A big thank you to Yorkshire Housing for hosting our member roundtable with the National Housing Bank and Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government. It was useful discussion focusing on how we can scale up delivery of new homes and how the bank can work with combined authorities and housing partnerships in a place-based way.