The Labour government’s hopes of delivering the 1.5 million new homes promised for this parliament are largely reliant on the performance of its flagship housing and regeneration agency. But, as Keith Cooper investigates, whether Homes England is up to the job remains to be seen after some embarrassing recent failures.

Homes England is expected to play a pivotal role in tackling the country’s housing crisis. It’s mandated to spend £27bn of funding funnelled through the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) on affordable housing, find and free up land to help hit the government’s 1.5m homes target, and act as a key adviser on Labour’s plans to build a dozen new towns. All of this is happening as the local authorities it must work with undergo radical reorganisation and mayors are given new powers over housing, planning and transport across swathes of England.

It’s a big and challenging job for MHCLG’s largest agency, as it undergoes its own major upheaval after some patchy past performance and the embarrassing failure of its last modernisation project.

So, how well set up is Homes England to deliver on the government’s housing ambitions amid the major on-going shake-up of local government? To find out, HQM has looked into its past, present and future, and spoken to experts familiar with its operations.

Read the full article from HQM here.