Liverpool City Region Combined Authority has signed the first Place Delivery Agreement (PDA) in England with Homes England and the National Housing Bank.
The agreement is intended to accelerate the delivery of homes, regeneration, and economic growth across the city region.
PDAs are a new mechanism designed to move the relationship between Homes England, the National Housing Bank, and mayoral strategic authorities from collaboration to co-delivery. They involve joint delivery units staffed by Homes England and strategic authority officers, shared commitments, and strengthened accountability arrangements to mayors.
Homes England said PDAs will become its principal way of working with mayoral authorities as devolution progresses, supported by the agency’s new regional operating model. It will continue to work with local partners in non-mayoral areas.
The Liverpool City Region agreement will give the mayor greater influence over housing and regeneration investment decisions. Homes England and National Housing Bank activity will be aligned around three pillars set by the combined authority:
- Transformative growth – delivering the Liverpool North Docks Mayoral Development Corporation and Central Station Gateway
- Housing pipeline – maintaining and enhancing the city region’s pipeline to increase delivery of social, affordable, and council homes
- Tackling barriers – working together to create the conditions to accelerate housing delivery, including skills, capacity, and issues in industrialised construction, and enhancing place-based investment
A dedicated joint delivery unit will bring together Homes England, the combined authority, and the National Housing Bank.
Liverpool City Region mayor Steve Rotheram said: “I’m delighted that Liverpool City Region is the first place in the country to sign a Place Delivery Agreement with Homes England and the National Housing Bank.
“This gives us a real opportunity to get more council and social homes built, get stalled schemes moving and make sure investment is focused where it can make the biggest difference.
“We’ve got huge ambitions for housing and regeneration across our city region, from the North Docks and Central Station Gateway to projects right across our boroughs. This agreement means we can work with Homes England and the National Housing Bank as one team to get on and deliver them.
“For me, this is what devolution should be about: giving places more control and then getting on with the job.”
Homes England chair Pat Ritchie CBE said: “Successful places are built by empowering local leaders to drive change in their communities. Today’s agreement marks an important step in deepening our partnership with the Liverpool City Region, enabling us to work together more effectively to deliver new homes, unlock regeneration opportunities and support economic growth.
“By strengthening the link between local priorities and national investment, expertise, tools and powers we can re-wire the system to better support delivery and have a greater impact for the people and places we serve. We look forward to expanding this approach with mayors across England in the months ahead.”
Image credit: Alexey Fedorenko/Shutterstock
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