- Theresa May to announce £2 billion for 'strategic partnerships' with associations
- £1 billion housing delivery fund launched by Brokenshire in partnership with Barclays
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Posted 18.09.18
GOV.UK: Article link
Housing associations have a central role to play in building the homes we need and challenging the attitudes that hold us back, Theresa May will say in central London today (18.09.18), as she announces new long-term funding for affordable housing.
The Prime Minister will announce that new longer-term partnerships will be opened up to the most ambitious housing associations through a ground-breaking £2 billion initiative.
Under the scheme, associations will be able to apply for funding stretching as far ahead as 2028/29 - the first time any government has offered housing associations such long-term certainty.
She is expected to say: " I'm asking housing associations to use the tools we have given you. Not just to build more homes, though of course more homes are needed. But to take the lead in transforming the very way in which we think about and deliver housing in this country.
Rather than simply acquiring a proportion of the properties commercial developers build, I want to see housing associations taking on and leading major developments themselves. Because creating the kind of large-scale, high-quality developments this country needs requires a special kind of leadership - leadership you are uniquely well-placed to provide."
The Prime Minister will also urge housing associations to use their "unique status, rich history and social mission" to change the way tenants and society as a whole view social housing. She is expected to say:
"For many people, a certain stigma still clings to social housing. Some residents feel marginalised and overlooked, and are ashamed to share the fact that their home belongs to a housing association or local authority.
"And on the outside, many people in society - including too many politicians - continue to look down on social housing and, by extension, the people who call it their home.
"We should never see social housing as something that need simply be 'good enough', nor think that the people who live in it should be grateful for their safety net and expect no better."
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Posted 13.09.18
GOV.UK: Article link
Housing Secretary James Brokenshire MP has today announced a new partnership with Barclays Bank to provide £1 billion of loan finance to help support small and medium sized developers, speeding up the delivery of thousands of new homes planned across England.
Support, ranging between £5 million to £100 million, will be made available to those developers who are able to demonstrate the necessary experience and commitment to building excellent new homes, whilst boasting a track record of delivering challenging projects on time and to target.
Overseen by Homes England, the funding will put greater emphasis on opening up the housing market, which sees almost two-thirds of new homes built by just ten companies at present.
The Housing Delivery Fund aims to support the delivery of new homes, including social housing, retirement living and apartments for rent, whilst also encouraging greater innovation on how housing is delivered such as brownfield land and urban regeneration projects.
