In Yorkshire and Humber, housing has never been higher up the political agenda. MPs’ postbags are bulging with letters from constituents, either asking for more housing or, more usually, objecting to specific plans for more housing near them. Local councillors’ surgeries are seeing growing numbers of people who cannot access the housing market. Central government is trying to drive through ambitious targets about the number of houses we build and the quality of those houses in terms of design and environmental sustainability. Delivering what each of these groups want, within limited resources, is, in part, the job of the regional housing board.
Responsibility for this board shifted from Government Office to the Assembly in September 2006 where it now sits alongside regional planning. In our region we are already beginning to see the benefits of closer integration between housing and planning, and also the benefits of improved accountability through the involvement of elected members in regional decisions about resources.
The regional issues we face are varied. We continue to have areas of poor stock that needs to be restructured to produce housing fit for the 21st century. Two of the nine Housing Market Renewal Pathfinders are based in South Yorkshire and Hull, part of a national programme to tackle low housing demand. 
The resource provided by government has made a real difference in these areas, but this is only a start. Recent increases in house prices should not mask the fact that much of this housing is still a choice of last resort. The board is committed to continuing work to transform these areas and deliver on the promises that we, and other partners, have made to the people who live there.
But increasingly the board is looking at the other side of the equation. The high-value, high-demand markets, where supply simply cannot meet the level of housing need. Affordability has now become the key issue for our region, and not just in those areas that have traditionally experienced high demand – such as the rural areas close to our cities.
A few facts and figures illustrate the scale of the problem. Housing waiting lists in Yorkshire and Humber are rising faster than anywhere in England with one in 10 families on waiting lists for affordable rented housing – a 42 per cent increase since 1997. This problem is unlikely to diminish over time – indeed latest population projections identify Yorkshire and Humber as having the country’s fastest growing population. Such levels of anticipated growth will only add pressure to the current need.
So what is the board planning to do to tackle the issues of affordable housing? The approach is threefold.
Firstly, it will be working to ensure the housing corporation element of its funding is being targeted at those areas of most intense need. We must make best use of the limited funding we currently receive through this route. However, we continue to make the case to government that these resources must increase – at present 15 per cent of the people on housing waiting lists nationally live in this region, yet we receive only 5.4 per cent of the national resource to address this problem. This is something the board believes needs to be rebalanced.
Secondly, the board is working closely with the regional planning board to look at how we can use the planning system to drive up the numbers of affordable homes delivered as part of private developments. This will involve looking at how we can get better use of section 106 agreements and planning gain.
Thirdly, the board is working with partners to ensure the complexity of our region’s housing issues is understood. There remains a persistent view that affordability is a southern problem. The more we can do to challenge that view, the better. This will involve working with the region’s MPs and others – for instance we are planning an event at the House of Commons in October this year to put the region’s housing issues firmly on the map.
Housing issues affecting people and communities in Yorkshire and Humber are complicated. The solutions demand both resources and real political leadership – locally, regionally and nationally. Making difficult decisions, especially about money, is never going to be easy. But members are showing the willingness to make some of these hard choices.
Despite these enormous challenges, the region is confident the new housing board can make a real difference to delivery. The potential gains are enormous, not just for this region, but for the UK as a whole.