Chair Peter Freeman and chief executive Peter Denton will resign after leading the government’s housing and regeneration agency for four years.

The move comes after housing minister Matthew Pennycook sent a letter setting out “seven immediate priorities” for the agency at the end of September to help the government hit its target of building 1.5 million homes over the next five years.

This target is 50% higher than the homes the country delivered over the previous five years.

New Year move

Homes England said Denton will “move on in the New Year”, while Freeman will “handover to his successor when the recruitment of a new chair is completed later next year”.

It added: “The new chair and interim chief executive will be working at pace to implement the priorities set out in the recent letter from the housing minister, with a strong focus on boosting growth through the delivery of new housing supply and place-based regeneration.”

Denton points out: “The agency is excited to help the government realise its target of 1.5 million homes, and to offer capacity and capability to the Mayors and local councils to deliver their local growth plans, including the largest delivery of new social housing in two generations.

“This will require a leadership team with a time horizon extending beyond the period I had originally set for myself.

“It’s important, therefore, that 2025 sees a new chair and a new chief executive taking on this incredible fresh mandate.”

Freeman says: “The agency has a vital role managing many of the government’s interventions to accelerate housing and regeneration across the country by supporting our partners in local government, affordable housing and housebuilding.”

Lower housebuilding completions

Pennycook thanks the outgoing Homes England leadership for their work.

He says: “On behalf of the government, I would like to thank Peter Freeman and Peter Denton for their leadership of the agency over recent years.

“We will shortly begin the process of recruiting their successors, with the search for a new chair starting next week and an interim chief executive will be confirmed shortly.

The housing minister’s September letter to Homes England in September, came after the agency’s 2023/24 annual report shows it achieved 32,300 home completions, down 4.2% from a year ago.

It initiated 35,600 home starts, down 4.3% from last year, however, it unlocked the delivery of 26,200 previously delayed homes, which more than doubled the figure 12 months ago.

The minister’s letter

Pennycook in a letter, dated 30 September, wrote to Freeman and said, “I have seven immediate priorities that I would like you to ensure the agency focuses on”.

These are:

• “I expect the agency to do everything in its power to accelerate development and increase delivery in 2024/25”

Pennycook added: “This will require an increase in the agency’s offer and role as master developer; better leveraging of funding programmes; and a greater willingness to utilise the existing powers available to it, including the rarely used compulsory purchase power.”

• “I would like you to continue to provide appropriate support to the New Homes Accelerator so that we can speed up delivery on large sites that are stalled or building out too slowly.

The New Homes Accelerator is a programme linking government, Homes England, the Greater London Authority, local authorities, and developers “to unblock” homes that have become delayed.

The government has identified around 200 sites, with outline or detailed, planning permission where work on site has been delayed, with the potential to deliver up to 300,000 homes.

The minister added: “This activity will extend to new sites where Homes England is not currently involved, but where Homes England support has been identified as the best lever to accelerate delivery.”

• “I expect the agency to continue to support the department [of housing’s] work on new towns and other major schemes by providing expertise and advice to the New Towns Taskforce where required and more actively leading place-based delivery”

The New Towns Taskforce is an independent 10-member panel established last month and chaired by Sir Michael Lyons.

Its job is to recommend the “next generation” of new towns that will each provide at least 10,000 new homes.

These areas should collectively deliver hundreds of thousands of new homes by 2050.

It will submit a key report to housing secretary Angela Rayner next summer to identify where these towns will be based.

• “I would like you to take steps to ensure that the agency is maximising the number of social rent homes.”
• “I expect the agency to support the reform and diversification of the housing market.”

The letter said this should include efforts to support such areas as small builders, build-to-rent, the greater adoption of mixed tenure sites and custom-built homes.

• The body “should continue to focus on achieving best value for money for the taxpayer and ensure that the agency drives efficiencies and prioritises resources”.
• The unit “should ensure that the agency provides robust and timely input into the Budget and spending review processes”.

The housing minister added in the letter that the government will publish its updated National Planning Policy Framework by the end of the year, which will outline its long-term housing policy.