Recently in Single Conversation Category

It is very difficult to believe that the HCA Single Conversation is over a year old now! Doesn't time fly when you're having fun, huh!

And the verdict is truly a mixed one. 

On the one hand, it has been an excellent process for those local authorities that have passed through it. It has encouraged them to think creatively and strategically about housing supply both within their boundaries and - crucially - also in neighbouring districts. 

As for the HCA, it has allowed them to better forecast their expenditure, which is clearly no bad thing at all. 

The concern among local authorities that I speak to is this: can the HCA meet the expectations that they have inevitably raised among housing officers and members?  .

HCA watchers are beginning to digest the fallout from Kickstart and, of course, we are all tracking the much vaunted Single Conversation, currently underway with local authorities.

Those local authorities who are or have been in receipt of good news are now finding that the timetable for the pilots is rather onerous.

As a result they are necessarily getting very busy indeed.

But sometimes you should be careful what you wish for.....As one wag put it, "some may fall over from the shock!"

And - whoopee - there is also new vocabulary to learn as well as new TLAs (Three Letter Acronyms).

Well, they are a government agency, after all. Bless.

Hands up who know what LIPs and LIAs are then? Or as The Jane Doe's sang: "Who's kidding who, spouting truth through lips of liars?" (Who says I don't do popular culture, then?)

Well, LIPs are Local Investment Plans and LIAs are Local Investment Agreements. These are both "non-legally binding" Single Conversation output documents. Now I know I'm a bit dense but I do struggle a bit to understand what the practical difference is between the documents.