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Neighbourhood projects make a difference say residents

News Release issued by the COI News Distribution Service on 11 February 2010

Local people are far more satisfied with where they live following major changes brought about by a Government regeneration programme to transform areas of deprivation, according to a new report published today.

The findings show that 74 per cent of residents living in the 39 areas benefiting from the New Deal for Communities programme were satisfied with their areas following major projects to improve housing and local environment, up by 13 per cent since 2002.

It also reveals that without the creation of the New Deal for Communities programme just under 19,800 homes would not have been built or improved in the period since 2002. More than 95 community buildings, including medical centres, facilities for young children and centres for creative businesses, have also been improved and brought back into use in NDC areas, helping to improving the local quality of life.

Local Government Minister Rosie Winterton today welcomed the report while visiting sites in Doncaster that have benefited from building and improvement works under the NDC programme.

The Minister visited social homes in Hexthorpe being refurbished by Doncaster NDC and viewed its work to convert a 1913 building at Church View into workspaces for small new creative businesses such as artists, web, graphic, and fashion designers. This flag ship building will also provide social and cultural activities and will provide a new headquarters for the Doncaster NDC Trust.

Rosie Winterton said:

"The NDC programme shows just what local people can achieve when given a chance to say what will improve their area, and drive those improvements through. Today's report shows how NDCs have improved people's quality of life and increased local satisfaction through major projects to regenerate housing and improve the local environment.

"The programme has helped to transform many local communities tackling problems caused by deprivation, including in Doncaster, by developing innovative projects such as Church View to support local businesses, or work to improve or refurbish housing such as in Hexthorpe."

The New Deal for Communities programme created thirty-nine partnerships in the most deprived neighbourhoods around the country. Established in 1999/2000 each community-led partnership was funded by the Government to tackle multiple deprivation in its area over a ten-year period.

Notes to Editors

1. The report - Interventions in Housing and the Physical Environment in deprived neighbourhoods: Evidence from the New Deal for Communities Programme – is available on the Communities and Local Government website: www. communities.gov.uk/publications/communities/interventionsinhousing.

2. This is one of seven thematic reports published today. The other reports are:

• Improving attainment? Interventions in education by the New Deal for Communities Programme.
• Narrowing the gap? Analysing the Impact of the New Deal for Communities Programme on Educational Attainment.
• Health interventions and their impact in NDC areas.
• Running a Regeneration Programme: the experiences of resident representatives on the boards of New Deal for Communities Partnerships.
• What works in neighbourhood-level regeneration? The views of key stakeholders in the New Deal for Communities Programme.
• Tenure and change in deprived areas: evidence from the New Deal for Communities areas.

3. By 2008, 74 per cent of NDC residents were very, or fairly, satisfied with their area as a place to live, fully 13 percentage points higher than in 2002. The rate of change was especially pronounced in those areas where levels of satisfaction had been low at the beginning of the NDC programme. This change was significantly greater than in comparator areas (8 percentage points).

Contacts:

Communities and Local Government Press Office
Phone: 0303 44 41137
press.office@communities.gsi.gov.uk