Posted 16.02.18
Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government: Article link
Housing Minister Dominic Raab announced a £45 million cash injection into key community projects to help kick-start the building of thousands of new homes.
local authorities will be able to use the Land Release Fund money to combat barriers which would otherwise make land unusable for development.
The projects include a range of necessary works, such as asbestos removal and bat alleviation - as well as schemes that will significantly improve quality of life such as essential relocating of a pelican crossing.
A total of 79 projects will benefit from this new funding, to support building up to 7,280 homes on council owned land.
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Posted 09.02.18
Cornwall Council: Article link
A plan to provide more homes in Cornwall has been given the go ahead by the Council's Cabinet. Cornwall Council will invest up to £170 million in directly building 1,000 new homes on sites across Cornwall.
The developments will be a mix of homes for private market rental with 35% for affordable rent or shared ownership, 15% sold on the private market and 50% available for private market rental.
A new company, wholly owned by the Council, will be set up to buy, let and manage the properties. The income generated from the private sales and rentals will subsidise the affordable homes so there is no cost to the Council over the life of the business plan.
Two pilot sites are already being built in Bodmin and Tolvaddon, which between them will see the delivery of 113 homes. Both sites will have properties to rent or to buy.
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Posted 06.02.18
Mayor of London: Article link
Plans to transform a key Elizabeth Line tunnelling site into a new neighbourhood with 1,500 homes has been revealed by the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan.
The Mayor has announced that Transport for London (TfL) is seeking a partner to develop its largest site of land - the Limmo Peninsula in East London.
It is proposed that 600 of the homes (40%) of the homes built on the 12.3 acre site will be genuinely affordable.
Limmo Peninsula is located near Canning Town Tube station, which is served by the Jubilee line and DLR, and forms a key part of the Canning Town and Custom House regeneration area.
The development will be residential-led, creating a new neighbourhood set in an attractive location next to the River Lea.
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Posted 02.02.18
GOV.UK: Article link
Up to 200,000 new homes are set to get off the ground as the Government confirms £866 million investment in local housing projects.
Housing Secretary Sajid Javid and Chancellor Philip Hammond announced that 133 council-led projects across the country will receive funding to support local work that will make housing developments viable and get much-needed homes built quicker.
This latest investment will fund key local infrastructure projects - including new roads, cycle paths, flood defences and land remediation work - all essential ahead of building homes.
Without this financial support these projects would struggle to go ahead or take years for work to begin, delaying the building of homes.
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Posted 01.02.18
Chartered Institute of Housing: Article link
More than 150,000 of the most affordable rented homes have been lost across England in just five years, according to analysis from the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH).
The organisation is predicting that loss will reach 230,000 by 2020 - making it increasingly difficult for people on lower incomes to access a decent home at a price they can afford.
CIH argues that ministers must focus on affordability as well as building more homes to fix the country's broken housing market. The government should take an urgent look at shifting funding from the private market towards genuinely affordable housing, said Chief Executive Terrie Alafat CBE.
Funding for social rent, which tends to be around 30% to 40% cheaper than market rent, was cut by the coalition government in 2010. Instead, funding has been targeted towards homes for 'affordable rent', which can be up to 80% of market rents.
Chief Executive Terrie Alafat said: "For many people on lower incomes, the only truly affordable option is social rent. It is simply unacceptable that we are losing so many of our most affordable homes at a time when more and more people are in need."
CIH said the government could also make some simple changes to the right to buy scheme to help councils build more homes to replace those sold.
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Updated 23.02.18
