The Government set out plans for a new pilot scheme to help families in London move from temporary accommodation into settled homes.
Following the Chancellor's announcement in the Budget of an Extra Homes Pilot, local authorities and housing associations in London will be invited to put forward innovative proposals to help reduce the number of households living in insecure temporary accommodation in the capital.
The new pilot will build on the range of existing and emerging 'temporary to permanent' housing schemes. For example, in Newham, the Local Space scheme is working to provide more affordable and settled homes over the long term by capturing funding that was previously being used to pay for costly temporary accommodation.
In particular, the pilot scheme will explore new approaches that help families to overcome barriers to work, provide settled homes, and reduce the cost of funding expensive temporary homes through housing benefit.
The pilot scheme is an important measure in the Government's new report - Building on Success: London's challenge for 2012. This sets out a range of actions being taken by the Government and its partners to address the housing needs of the Capital, including:
The report can be viewed and downloaded from the Government Office for London's website at www.gol.gov.uk.
A review was announced of the institutional structure for the delivery of the Government's housing and regeneration programmes. The Review will consider the best way of organising national delivery mechanisms to maximise the use of private investment, public subsidy and land holdings, and assets funded by past public investment, to support the delivery of new homes, the improvement of existing homes, and the creation of mixed sustainable communities.
The Review was called for by the Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, and Local Government and Communities Minister, David Miliband. It will draw on advice from an expert panel, including the Chairs and Chief Executives of English Partnerships and the Housing Corporation, representatives of local government, lenders, and other external members with relevant expertise. David Miliband said the review would look at how government could take the next step in improving the delivery of sustainable communities:
"We have made real progress over the last few years. But delivering sustainable communities across England will require even greater focus and skill in the future, as we move towards creating genuinely mixed, sustainable communities in every English region.
"In the successful programmes of English Partnerships and the Housing Corporation we have a strong foundation. But this Review is about much more than just the Housing Corporation and English Partnerships. It is about looking at how [we] can make more of the resources at our disposal and how we can bring innovative solutions to the challenges we face."
The Review will consider a range of questions including:
The Review is expected to report to ministers in July, with decisions to be announced during the summer.
Building on the announcement of its £3.9 billion National Affordable Housing Programme (NAHP) to deliver 84,000 new homes, the Housing Corporation launched a HomeBuy section on its website. The new section gives details of the new HomeBuy Agents and 35,000 homes will be available for affordable sale via the new HomeBuy initiative.
Twenty-three HomeBuy Agents cover every area of England, meaning first-time buyers could be just a click away from their first home. By simply logging onto the Housing Corporation website and clicking the HomeBuy logo, first-time buyers can find their dedicated HomeBuy Agent, which acts as a one-stop shop for advice on low-cost homeownership in their area.
Low-cost homeownership will be delivered by three new HomeBuy products developed by the Housing Corporation and the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, for local people priced out of the private market: New Build HomeBuy; Open Market HomeBuy; and Social HomeBuy.
Visit www.housingcorp.gov.uk and click on the HomeBuy logo, for a step by step guide to buying a home through the HomeBuy Scheme and details of all the HomeBuy Agents.
The Housing Corporation announced it had exceeded its key targets under the 2005-06 Approved Development Programme, and at the same time predicted that its development Partners would meet Gershon efficiency savings for 'New Supply' by the Government-set 2008 deadline.
Under the 2005-06 Approved Development Programme (ADP), the Corporation has exceeded its target for the number of new homes overall by 9.5% - 36,386 completions against a target of 33,180 - meaning an additional 3,206 affordable homes. Within this, specific targets exceeded are as follows:
The Corporation also confirmed that bids received for the 2006-08 National Affordable Housing Programme indicate that its development Partners will meet the remaining Gershon efficiency savings of £300 million under the 'New Supply' category by 2008. The savings come despite increased minimum requirements set by the Corporation for the quality of the homes, and have been recycled within the investment programme to contribute to the overall increased output of an extra 21,000 affordable homes compared to 2004-06.
