South East Regional Housing Strategy consultation ends on 27 April

There are only two weeks left to give your views on how £1.3 billion of housing investment should be spent over the next three years.

The South East England Regional Housing Board is inviting comments on housing priorities until 27 April 2007, when 12 weeks of consultation closes. Comments will inform the South East's Regional Housing Strategy for 2008-2011 and decisions on how to balance spending between different types of housing investment.

Key options for consultation:

• Investing in affordable homes to rent or buy
• Spending public money on improving privately owned homes
• Investing in building larger family-sized affordable homes
• Defining criteria for selecting areas that should receive funding
• Investing in affordable housing in urban and rural areas
• Establishing a Regional Infrastructure Fund to support new development.

To date more than 125 written and online responses have been received from organizations, including local councils, housing associations, the voluntary sector and developers. In addition, the South East England Regional Assembly, which chairs the Board, has commissioned opinion polls of more than 1,500 residents across the region and has held a series of briefings for key stakeholder groups.

Contacts

Lesley van Dijk, Assembly PR Executive - 01483 555223

Heather Bolton, Assembly Communications Director - 01483 555220

Notes to editors:

The Regional Housing Strategy - Draft for Consultation, February 2007 can be downloaded from the housing section.

An online housing questionnaire is also available in this section.

The South East England Regional Housing Board

1. The Regional Housing Board is a partnership board of the Regional Assembly; it advises Government on how regional housing budgets should be spent.
2. Members of the Board:
   Cllr Elizabeth Cartwright, Chairman of the Board and member of the South East England Regional Assembly.
   
   Other members from the Regional Assembly are:
   Cllr Gillian Brown (Arun District Council),
   Cllr Don Turner (Brighton and Hove City Council),
   Cllr John Goddard (Oxford City Council),
   Ann Santry (Social Housing) and
   Douglas Horner (CBI).
   
   Members of other organisations:
   Shelia Drew Smith (Housing Corporation),
   Cllr Keith House (SEEDA),
   Trevor Beattie (English Partnerships) and
   Howard Ewing (Government Office for the South East).

The South East England Regional Assembly

1. The South East England Regional Assembly is a partnership of councils and communitities in the South East. It was established in January 1999 to give a representative voice to the South East region, which covers Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, East and West Sussex, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Kent, Oxfordshire, and Surrey.
2. The Regional Assembly is made up of 112 members including elected councillors nominated by the region's local authorities and 37 representatives from other sectors of the community (including business, trades unions, education, housing, health, sports, culture, tourism, faith groups, environmental, community and voluntary organisations) as well as the New Forest National Park Authority.
3. The Assembly has four key roles:
• Advocacy
  pressing the South East's interests in London and Brussels.
• Accountability
  scrutinising the plans and performance of regional bodies such as SEEDA to align the region's priorities.
• Regional planning
  preparing and delivering the South East Plan - the 20-year statutory plan for the region that sets the framework for the sustainable development of the South East.
• Regional policy
  advising Government on the co-ordination of regional strategies and spending priorities for housing, transport, planning and economic development to improve the impact of public expenditure.

Our vision is for a distinctive, outward-looking, accessible region of prosperous, sustainable communities, with a high quality of life and environment.

Last updated: 21 August 2007