Housing Minister Caroline Flint announced new measures, which the Government hopes will respond to the impact of the credit crunch on the housing market and maintain the delivery of new affordable housing.
The measures include:
A new national clearing house is being set up, where house builders can approach the Housing Corporation with robust proposals to sell their unsold stock for affordable housing.
So far, £200 million has been allocated for affordable housing providers to purchase unsold stock from house builders, which can then be used for social or affordable housing. The clearing house will enable this resource to be invested as soon as possible, by giving developers greater certainty and an early steer on their chances of success.
The Government also announced the sixth round of the Housing Private Finance Initiative. Councils will be able to bid for a share of up to £1.87 billion to build new homes or refurbish existing houses and estates.
A pilot 'Rent to Homebuy' scheme to help first time buyers onto the property ladder was announced by Housing Minister Caroline Flint.
The pilot will be managed by the Housing Corporation and will help prospective first time buyers who find that they are unable to access the housing market at the present time.
Households who would normally be eligible to purchase a New Build Homebuy property will be able to rent that property at less than market rent for a pre-specified period. At the end of that time (or sooner if they are able), they will be given first option to buy a share of the property through the New Build HomeBuy scheme.
The rent being charged will give households time to save for a deposit, or for their financial circumstances to improve sufficiently, for them to enter homeownership via New Build Homebuy.
An evaluation of the success of the pilot scheme, including whether there are opportunities for a Rent to Homebuy product to offer a wider choice in the intermediate market on a longer term basis, will be carried out at the end of the current financial year.
