Housing governance in the English regions: emerging structures, limits and potentials

The centralising tendency of successive governments left housing policy struggling to comprehend and respond effectively to increasing regional and sub-regional differentiation in housing markets in England during the 1990s. A consequence of this central-local paradox, whereby the centre has exerted increasing control over local affairs but is unable to appreciate and sensitise policy to the particulars of local housing markets, has been rising 'top-down' interest in the regional tier of housing administration. There is also evidence of 'bottom-up' impetus for the development of a regional tier of housing governance. Paying particular attention to the situation in the North of England, and taking Yorkshire and Humberside as a case study example, this paper examines this emerging regional tier of housing governance. Focusing specifically on the development, role and function of Regional Housing Forums, and situating discussion in the context of debates regarding 'New Regionalism', some preliminary conclusions are drawn regarding the potentials and limits of housing governance in the English regions.