Government investment to build thousands of new homes
27 Jun 2014 12:47 PM
Eric Pickles announces
millions of pounds of investment to boost the supply of new
homes.
Communities across the country
are set to benefit from thousands of extra homes under new deals revealed by
the government yesterday (26 June 2014).
Speaking at the Chartered
Institute for Housing conference in Manchester, Communities Secretary Eric
Pickles set out why housing is the cornerstone of Britain’s economic
strength and social well-being.
He said considerable progress
has been made to fix the broken housing market, but that there is still more to
do and government will continue to get the country building more
homes.
The Secretary of State announced
millions of pounds of investment across a range programmes, to boost the supply
of new homes in all areas of the housing market:
-
over £53 million will
accelerate construction of more than 7,000 homes on large developments in
Manchester, Medway, Swindon and Kettering. The new deals will bring the total
number of homes supported through theLocal
Infrastructure Fund to over 80,000 since the scheme began in
2012
-
the government has set aside
£1 billion over the next 5 years for further rounds of the programme. So
far 56 bids have been received which demonstrate the strong interest from
developers in getting workers back on stalled large-scale sites and to deliver
the homes. An announcement about the shortlisted bids for the first round of
funding will be made later in the summer
-
a new £3 million fund to
help planning authorities tackle barriers to work starting on site – the
fund will give authorities additional capacity to focus on issues such as
finalising section 106 agreements and signing off planning conditions, to help
get work started on sites as quickly as possible. The fund could accelerate
starts on up to 85 sites with the potential for up to 25,000
homes
-
over £49 million will
support 3 new schemes under the Build to Rent programme in Hampshire and
Croydon. The funding will help deliver over 540 homes specifically for private
rent, bringing the total number of homes supported through the programme so far
to over 1,600
-
a new
prospectus for a new £150 million investment fund for 10,000
‘serviced plots’ will be published. The funding will help bring
forward ‘shovel ready’ sites where people can hire a developer to
build the home they want, a type of development known as custom build. A
demonstration site at Park Prewett, near Basingstoke, will begin
shortly
Communities Secretary Eric
Pickles said:
In 2010 we inherited a paralysed
housing market and a collapsing rate of construction. Since then we’ve
delivered over 445,000 new homes, and house building is at its highest rate
since 2007 and still climbing.
The resurgence in house building
is clear evidence that the government’s long-term economic plan is
working, but there is still more to do.
The investment we’re
announcing today will help us meet this challenge by driving up the supply of
new homes in every corner of the housing market. From new places for rent to
people designing to those building their own properties – we will support
and deliver the homes this country needs.
Further
information
Local Infrastructure
Fund
The government has successfully
unlocked a further 4 major housing schemes through the Local
Infrastructure Fund, bringing the total to over 87,000. The sites unlocked
are:
-
Manchester City Fringe:
£18.8 million will unlock 1,500 new homes on the Collyhurst, Ancoats and
Lower Irk Valley. The investment will pay for key road infrastructure and land
acquisition needed to support the delivery of the scheme, which will ultimately
include 7,000 homes
-
Medway Valley: £19.5
million will unlock 2,350 new homes. The investment will pay for the Medway
Valley Crossing which is an essential part of the infrastructure required in
order to deliver 2 remaining residential sites on the east bank of the River
Medway
-
Tadpole Farm: £5.5 million
will unlock a 1,695-home urban extension to the north of Swindon. The
investment will pay for key access roads into the site, landscaping and
drainage works to get the site ready for housing
-
Kettering: £14.5 million
will unlock the first 1,750 new homes of a proposed 5,500 urban extension,
business and energy park to the east of Kettering. The investment will pay for
key access road infrastructure, sewerage works and other site preparation to
enable the first phase of the development to get underway
Build to Rent
The funding announced will
support the delivery of new homes for private rent on 3 new sites under the
Build to Rent programme, bringing the total to over 1,600
homes.
-
Berewood, Hampshire: £6.3
million loan will deliver 106 new homes
-
Aldershot, Hampshire:
£23.7 million loan delivering 219 new homes
-
Croydon, south London:
£19.8 million loan will deliver 216 new homes
Serviced plots
prospectus
A new £150
million investment fund will bring forward up to 10,000 serviced
building plots for custom build housing. The fund is intended to incentivise a
different way of bringing forward land for development, for sites of 10 homes
or more.
There is significant demand for
this form of housing across the country, yet only 1 in 10 of new homes are
custom built every year. This is in stark contrast to our European neighbours
who build about 50% all their homes this way. The government wants to change
this and unlock the growth potential of this market to build capacity and
diversify our house building industry enabling us to build more high quality
new homes faster.
The fund is available to
developers and community groups, either working individually or as part of a
joint venture with individual custom builders or a local authority. The
developer will prepare the plots for sale and may choose to work with
individuals to build they home they want, subject to final approval from the
local council of their plans. Alternatively individuals can buy a plot and then
commission their own builder to build their home for them.
The funding will provide a
repayable loan for infrastructure works to provide these shovel ready plots for
sale. Bids will need to be submitted to the Homes and Communities Agency by 30
September 2014.