CIH has welcomed today's announcement of a new housing and regeneration agency "Communities England", which we believe will lead to a better use of resources and expertise in creating mixed communities.

David Butler, the CIH's chief executive, said: "We called for a single agency in our response to the Government's Review and we strongly support the proposal. Our role is enabling housing professionals to contribute to the wellbeing of communities. So, we've always supported approaches that encourage the various delivery partners to work together and want to work with Communities England in moving this agenda forward.

"It's not clear to what extent Communities England will be involved in the continuous improvement of service delivery but this is a key issue if communities are to remain sustainable over the long term. One of the positive aspects of the existing role of the Housing Corporation is that it retains an interest in communities once investment is completed – we believe the new agency will need to take a similar long term approach.

"Clearly there are still some unanswered questions: including the Agency's influence on policy and its relationship with other organisations – especially at regional level, and it will take time for the new agency to become established. Whilst the ongoing priority will be to deliver the existing programmes, decisions about future structures and roles are important. We would urge the transition team to engage with CIH and to involve practitioners in ensuring that the new agency gets this right", concluded David Butler.

*ENDS*

Issued on behalf of the CIH by Jill Dwyer, Media Relations Officer, CIH Press Office, Octavia House, Westwood Way, Coventry CV4 8JP. Telephone 024 7685 1780. Fax: 024 7642 1756. Mob: 07786 716961. E-mail: press@cih.org

Editors Notes:

- CIH is the professional body for individuals working in housing. Its primary aim is to maximise the contribution that housing professionals make to the well-being of communities. CIH has nearly 20,000 individual members working for local authorities, housing associations, Arms Length Management Organisations, Government bodies, educational establishments and the private sector. Further information is available at: www.cih.org

- Making the Case for Housing’ is a CIH initiative to influence the next Comprehensive Spending Review. It highlights the work of the housing sector not only in helping to deliver sustainable communities but also in supporting a much wider set of social priorities such as raising educational performance, improving health and reducing crime. Continued investment in housing is critical if we are to achieve our mission of contributing to the well-being of communities.