The levelling up Agenda - what it really means

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The new Levelling Up White Paper of government covers a dramatic reshaping of the private rental sector.

Landlords will lose Section 21 eviction powers. According to Housing Secretary Michael Gove, this action will change unfair circumstance where landlords evict tenants from their homes for no reason.

Furthermore, all homes in the private rental sector will must satisfy the Decent Homes Standard as a minimum standard.

The White Paper replenish some terms to prove that it  will not stop there. For example, it says” they will introduce a landlord register to consult and take actions for rogue landlords who maliciously create difficulties for tenants and break some rules.”

There is no explicit mention of a national landlord register, which was mentioned earlier this week in a government leak about today's announcement.

There's more: the government says a new £1.5 billion Levelling Up Home Building Fund will be launched, providing loans to small and medium-sized developers and supporting the government's wider regeneration agenda in areas deemed a priority for levelling up.

The government is also promising to build "more genuinely affordable social housing." Following the Grenfell Tower fire in 2017, a new Social Housing Regulation Bill will be introduced.

The '80/20 rule,' which directs 80% of government funding for housing supply to' maximum affordability areas' – in practise, London and the South East – will be scrapped, with a large portion of the £1.8 billion brownfield funding instead going to transforming brownfield sites in the North and Midlands. Metro Mayors will receive £120 million of this funding.

The Levelling Up White Paper as a whole is extensive and far-reaching, with 12 so-called missions that have been given legal status in a flagship Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill.

There are the 12 missions:

1.       By 2030, pay, employment, and productivity will have increased in every region of the UK, with each region containing a globally competitive city and the gap between the top performing and other areas closing.

2.        Domestic public investment in R&D outside the Greater South East will increase by at least 40% and by at least one-third over the Spending Review period by 2030, with the additional government funding aiming to leverage at least twice as much private sector investment over the long term to stimulate innovation and productivity growth.

3.       By 2030, local public transportation connectivity throughout the country will be significantly closer to London standards, with improved services, simpler fares, and integrated ticketing.

4.       By 2030, the UK will have nationwide gigabit-capable broadband and 4G coverage, with the majority of the population covered by 5G.

5.       By 2030, the proportion of primary school children who meet the expected standard in reading, writing, and mathematics will have increased significantly. In England, this means that 90% of children will meet the expected standard, and the percentage of children meeting the expected standard in the lowest performing areas will have increased by more than a third.

6.       By 2030, the number of people successfully completing high-quality skills training will have increased significantly across the UK. This will result in 200,000 more people successfully completing high-quality skills training in England each year, with 80,000 more people completing courses in the lowest skilled areas.

7.       By 2030, the gap in Healthy Life Expectancy between high and low-income areas will have narrowed, and HLE will have increased by five years by 2035.

8.       By 2030, well-being will have improved in every region of the UK, with the gap between the best and worst performing areas closing;

9.       By 2030, pride in place, such as people's satisfaction with their town centre and engagement in local culture and community, will have increased in every area of the UK, with the gap between the best and worst performing areas closing;

10.   Renters will have a secure path to ownership by 2030, with the number of first-time buyers increasing in all areas; and the government's ambition is for the number of substandard rented homes to have fallen by 50%, with the greatest improvements in the worst-performing areas.

11.   Homicide, serious violence, and neighbourhood crime will have decreased by 2030, with a focus on the worst-affected areas.

12.   By 2030, every part of England that wants one will have a devolution deal with powers at or near the highest level of devolution and a streamlined, long-term funding arrangement.

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07/02/2022
Author : Mary-Anne Bowring

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