English Partnerships (EP) was the national regeneration agency for England, performing a similar role on a national level to that fulfilled by regional development agencies on a regional level.
On 1 December 2008 its powers passed to a successor body, the new Homes and Communities Agency.
It was particularly active in major regeneration areas such as the Thames Gateway and in expansion areas such as Milton Keynes, where the Deputy Prime Minister (acting as Environment Minister) removed planning from local control and appointed them as the statutory planning authority.
English Partnerships was legally two entirely independent bodies set up under separate statutes.
The URA originated as the English Industrial Estates Corporation, which was "established in 1936 as North Eastern Trading Estates Ltd to help to alleviate the problems caused by the decline of heavy industries such as shipbuilding and coalmining"[1] On 17 January 2007 Ruth Kelly, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, announced proposals to bring together the delivery functions of the Housing Corporation, English Partnerships and parts of CLG to form a new unified housing and regeneration agency, the Homes and Communities Agency (initially announced as "Communities England"); this became operational on 1 December 2008.