The Homes and Communities Awards 2010 are now open for entries – individuals, partnerships and organisations are invited to promote their excellence in creating and managing places.

This year’s awards promise to be bigger and better than ever – the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) has joined forces with Haymarket Media, the company behind the Regeneration & Renewal Awards, to create a unified awards scheme for the housing and regeneration sector.

The Homes and Communities Awards celebrate successful developments and community-based projects. The categories for the 2010 scheme target priority areas in the delivery of better places:

• Flourishing places – Harnessing the benefits of culture, sport and arts
• Housing for an ageing population – Meeting the aspirations of older people
• Innovation and new ventures – Delivering new communities in challenging conditions
• Investing in skills – Tackling worklessness through training and apprenticeships
• Leadership of place – Developing strong local partnerships to renew homes and communities
• Outstanding commitment – Demonstrating community spirit and encouraging involvement from others
• Quality of place – Designing and maintaining an excellent local environment
• Rural housing – Providing affordable homes to sustain rural living
• Stronger communities – Increasing participation and cohesion through regeneration
• Sustainable futures – Promoting low carbon living through building innovation

Richard Garlick, editor of Regeneration & Renewal magazine, said:

“These awards will capitalise on both organisations’ in-depth knowledge of the regeneration sector and national reach. They will gather a wide range of examples of effective regeneration, evaluate them through a rigorous judging process and disseminate the most outstanding as widely as possible. We are delighted to be running them with the Homes and Communities Agency.”

The name of the awards scheme has been refined from the Homes & Communities Academy Awards to reflect an important development in the HCA’s commitment to improving professional practice. The launch of the 2010 scheme coincides with the agency’s announcement that it is building on the work of the HCA Academy to create a new corporate directorate that will ensure the HCA’s partners have the flexible skills and knowledge needed to create great places.

The new, expanded Skills and Knowledge Directorate puts skills at the heart of the agency’s work and supports the HCA’s investments in places by:

• Preparing the HCA’s partners to participate in the Single Conversation and providing practical support programmes for places prioritised for investment
• Leading the agency’s response to the apprenticeships and worklessness agenda by ensuring that local jobs are created where the HCA makes major investments
• Developing an interactive website that will provide cost-effective learning and knowledge transfer for HCA staff and delivery partners.

Sir Bob Kerslake, chief executive of the HCA, said:

“A lack of skills is one of the greatest risks to our ambitions for places. In difficult market conditions it is more important than ever to maximise resources and work smarter. We are relying on the commitment and ingenuity of a huge number of people and it is vital that we constantly capture and share the successes. These awards, delivered by our new directorate, are a fantastic way of celebrating excellence and sharing best practice so that we are all better equipped to achieve our ambitions for people and places.”

Housing Minister John Healey said:

"We're using the power of Government investment not just to build the homes this country needs, but to support and create the jobs we need too. I've made it a condition that those getting Government money for housing must offer job opportunities for local people and apprenticeship schemes and the new HCA Skills and Knowledge Directorate will have a key part to play in driving forward learning and innovation in the sector."

The deadline for award entries is 30 April 2010. The winners will be announced at a dinner event at the Roundhouse in London on 23 September.

For details about entering the Homes and Communities Awards visit www.hcaawards.co.uk

To discuss sponsorship opportunities or to book a table at the event contact Vicci Rule on 020 8267 4647 or email vicci.rule@haymarket.com