Abode Recruitment

The Homes and Communities Agency became real for me when I came into our central London office early on the Saturday before our
launch to help put up the new signage. An exciting moment, it marked the culmination of months of sheer hard work.

When I accepted the job of chief executive I knew there was a major task ahead, with huge operational and corporate challenges. At that stage, we had no understanding of the scale of the credit crunch and market downturn that was to come.

Looking back on our first 100 days, I feel we have accomplished a lot against the backdrop of an extraordinary economic challenge.

The HCA’s birth four months early is testament to the thorough preparations in the build-up to 1 December – although we are realistic that it was just the start of creating an integrated organisation, and overseeing a huge cultural change.

Forging diverse organisations and programmes into one identity was never going to be a simple task: the HCA has more than 900 staff spread across 20 offices and nine English regions.

The response to us so far has been extremely positive: there’s real excitement for the possibilities and genuine will for it to succeed. But we have to be realistic and honest in our approach because we’re not talking about quick fixes.

Growth, renewal, affordability and sustainability are the four key areas driving us. The HCA vision is to create opportunities for people and places. For people this means a home where they want to live and can afford. For places this means fulfilling local needs, aspirations and ambitions.

Now, more than 100 days in, we can see more clearly the challenge ahead. Work is underway on our corporate plan for the next two years, which will be the first time that the agency has been able to set out its own distinctive agenda and priorities. In this, we plan to build on the practical examples of innovation that take advantage of the new opportunities created by the agency.

For instance, in Milton Keynes we’re creating a portfolio of sites, using small pockets of non-strategic land, which can be integrated into existing residential areas.

The sites will be suitable for the development of more than 200 affordable homes. We’re looking at north Coventry estate renewal – developing a long-term relationship leading to a mixed income scheme of 3,328 new homes.