Housing Corporation
Encyclopedia
The Housing Corporation was the non-departmental public body
Non-departmental public body
In the United Kingdom, a non-departmental public body —often referred to as a quango—is a classification applied by the Cabinet Office, Treasury, Scottish Government and Northern Ireland Executive to certain types of public bodies...

 that funded new affordable housing and regulated housing association
Housing association
Housing associations in the United Kingdom are independent not-for-profit bodies that provide low-cost "social housing" for people in housing need. Any trading surplus is used to maintain existing homes and to help finance new ones...

s in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. It was established by the Housing Act 1964. On 1 December 2008, its functions were transferred to two new organisations, the Homes and Communities Agency
Homes and Communities Agency
The Homes and Communities Agency is the non-departmental public body that funds new affordable housing in England. It was established by the Housing and Regeneration Act 2008 as one of the successor bodies to the Housing Corporation, and became operational on 1 December 2008.-Background:On 17...

 and the Tenant Services Authority.

The last Chairman of the Housing Corporation was Peter Dixon, and his deputy was Shaukat Moledina.

Successor bodies

On 17 January 2007, Ruth Kelly
Ruth Kelly
Ruth Maria Kelly is a British Labour Party politician of Irish descent who was the Member of Parliament for Bolton West from 1997 until she stood down in 2010...

 announced proposals to bring together the investment functions of the Housing Corporation, English Partnerships
English Partnerships
English Partnerships was the national regeneration agency for England, performing a similar role on a national level to that fulfilled by Regional Development Agencies on a regional level...

 and parts of the Department for Communities and Local Government to form a new unified housing and regeneration agency.

In the following months, Professor Martin Cave, Director of the Centre for Management under Regulation at University of Warwick
University of Warwick
The University of Warwick is a public research university located in Coventry, United Kingdom...

, led the most comprehensive review of English housing regulation for 30 years. Reporting in June, the Cave Review recommended that a new regulatory agency be set up, separating the regulation and investment responsibilities of the Housing Corporation.

On 15 October 2007, Yvette Cooper
Yvette Cooper
Yvette Cooper is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford since 2010, having previously been MP for Pontefract and Castleford since 1997. She served in the Cabinet between 2008 and 2010. She is the Shadow Home Secretary...

 announced that the Government accepted the recommendation of the Cave Review to transfer the Corporation's regulatory powers to an independent body. Initially this was to be named the Office for Tenants and Social Landlords, but its name was subsequently changed to the Tenant Services Authority. The new investment body was initially announced as "Communities England", later renamed as the Homes and Communities Agency
Homes and Communities Agency
The Homes and Communities Agency is the non-departmental public body that funds new affordable housing in England. It was established by the Housing and Regeneration Act 2008 as one of the successor bodies to the Housing Corporation, and became operational on 1 December 2008.-Background:On 17...

.

The legislative framework for both new bodies is contained in the Housing and Regeneration Act, which gained Royal Assent
Royal Assent
The granting of royal assent refers to the method by which any constitutional monarch formally approves and promulgates an act of his or her nation's parliament, thus making it a law...

 on 23 July 2008. They became operational on 1 December 2008.

Energy Efficiency

As the Corporation required the housing associations it funded to achieve EcoHomes
EcoHomes
EcoHomes is an environmental rating scheme for homes in the United Kingdom. It is the domestic version of the Building Research Establishment's Environmental Assessment Method BREEAM, which can also be applied to a variety of non-residential buildings....

 standards, the Housing Corporation was indirectly responsible for building the greatest number of environmentally-friendly homes
Energy efficiency in British housing
Domestic housing in the United Kingdom presents a possible opportunity for achieving the 20% overall cut in UK carbon dioxide emissions targeted by the Government for 2010...

 in the UK. Eco-performance standards are to be raised further for grants provided in 2008-2010, when compliance exceeding Level 3 of the new Code for Sustainable Homes
Code for Sustainable Homes
The Code for Sustainable Homes is an environmental impact rating system for housing in England and Wales, setting new standards for energy efficiency and sustainability which are not mandatory under current building regulations but represent important developments towards limiting the...

will be required.
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