Healey kickstarts work on 22,400 homes

Housing Minister John Healey today announced that 270 stalled development projects across the country have been shortlisted for a share of £925m which could help get building work on 22,400 homes back on track and create 20,000 jobs.

Every region has shortlisted projects and will benefit from this major cash injection, part of the Prime Minister’s Housing Pledge announced last month, that will help build the homes the country needs, help the country through the recession and help people into jobs. The projects have been identified by the Homes and Communities Agency through the Kickstart programme.

Mr Healey made clear that this support comes on tough terms. The Government expects almost half the money to be repaid within five years, over one third will go to housing associations and others to help them manage the affordable housing and less than one fifth (18%) consists of direct grant to support developers. Only developers who have accepted a realistic current market price for their land are eligible for Government investment.

All the projects will now go through a rigorous final assessment to determine which get the green light. Key to this will be their ability to start construction this year. But Mr Healey said he wanted to see the first builders back on site in a matter of weeks and will call on successful developers to pull out all the stops so construction can restart as quickly as possible.

Over 8,600 of these homes would be for affordable rent or sale, with two thirds built to a standard well above that required by building regulations helping to cut CO2 emissions and reduce energy bills for the families that live in them.

The Kickstart programme is a key part of the Government’s investment to help combat the recession. It is designed to unlock housebuilding sites currently unable to proceed and support construction of high quality mixed tenure housing developments. Kickstart was announced in this year’s Budget and then expanded last month as part of the Prime Minister’s Housing Pledge as a centrepiece of Building Britain’s Future.

This funding will be used to make projects that have been mothballed in the current economic climate viable and is only being provided where developers cannot get support from other sources. It will boost development funding available, reduce levels of risk associated with projects and help support demand from homebuyers through measures such as Homebuy Direct.

John Healey said:

"We’ve pledged to use the power of Government investment to help Britain through the recession. This billion pound Kickstart programme will get stalled building work back on track, create jobs and help build the quality homes we need.

"Today I’m announcing that 270 housing projects across the country are shortlisted line for a share of £925m. This could kickstart work on up to 22,400 homes and create 20,000 jobs on housebuilding sites that have been mothballed in the recession. Around 8,600 of these homes would be for low cost rent or low cost ownership and two thirds will be built to some of the toughest ever standards helping to reduce CO2 emissions.

"This is not a handout to developers. There are tough terms to this deal including repayment of loans within five years. And only builders who accept a realistic current market price for their land are eligible.

"I want to see builders back on these sites within weeks. So I will be calling on successful developers to pull out all the stops so construction can restart as quickly as possible."

Sir Bob Kerslake, Chief Executive of the Homes and Communities Agency, said:

"The response to our bidding process shows the level of appetite and capacity for development which is out there in the house building sector. Despite the economic downturn, demand for new homes remains and with some help, quality schemes can be unlocked, adding to new supply very quickly."

Shortlisted projects include:

• Stanion, an urban extension to Corby, which in the long term is planned to deliver 1,200 homes. Infrastructure is in place but housing development has stalled. There are three shortlisted bids from developers seeking to start development in this area – two of which are at Code Level 3 and two Building for Life Silver.
• An 82-home scheme in the Growth Point in Macclesfield, a high priority under the regional spatial strategy, has bid for funding to deliver a mixture of sale and low cost home ownership homes. The scheme is seeking to achieve Code for Sustainable homes Level 6.
• Crayford Town Hall in Bexley, a site which is no longer required by the local authority and is suitable for housing development. This could deliver up to 145 homes, in a mixture of sale, affordable rent and low cost home ownership. This is expected to achieve Code for Sustainable Homes Level 3 and Building for Life Silver.
• Alnwick in Northumberland, where the town centre scheme could bring forward up to 93 homes, a mixture of sale, social and intermediate rent – at Code Level 3 – that will also help to deliver town centre regeneration.
• A scheme in north Bristol (in the Growth Point) which could deliver up to 149 homes (a mixture of sale, social rent and low cost home ownership). It will provide considerable benefits to neighbouring communities in Patchway through investment in local community facilities, which includes a new district centre and primary school. The scheme is expected to be Building for Life Silver and Ecohomes Very Good.

All of these will be subject to due diligence to further test their deliverability, risk and financial position.

Region	Number of Projects	Amount of Investment (£’000s)	Number of homes (gross)
East of England	21	£55,171	Up to 1,675
East Midlands	32	£113,757	Up to 2,880
London	25	£171,221	Up to 2,981
North East	26	£82,006	Up to 1,721
North West	54	£134,877	Up to 3,764
South East	26	£109,892	Up to 2,326
South West	25	£65,792	Up to 2,121
West Midlands	35	£109,231	Up to 2,842
Yorkshire / Humber	26	£83,351	Up to 2,088
Total	270	£925,299	Up to 22,398

Mr Healey today also signalled a second wave of Kickstart funding, with a bidding round to start in September, and said that he is ready to back other projects to build thousands of further homes that otherwise would not be completed. Successful second wave projects will be announced later this year.

(CLG) Helping to house our injured heroes

Ex-servicemen and women who are seriously injured are to be given priority for specially adapted social homes, announced Housing Minister Iain Wright today.

Councils are being instructed to treat seriously injured service personnel as a priority when allocating modified housing, under new guidance being issued today.

It will help to ensure better availability of specially adapted housing with features like walk-in bathrooms, wider door frames, lowered light switches, and entry slopes rather than steps, for service personnel as part of the Government's commitment to support those injured in the service of their country.

The guidance will also reinforce changes to help make sure all members of the Armed Forces can also apply for social housing in areas in which they were based during their service. Previously, service personnel were restricted by the need to demonstrate a local connection beyond having served there.

Iain Wright said:

"It is right that our servicemen and women who are seriously injured fighting for their country are given the housing support they deserve. These new rules mean service personnel must be treated as priority for specially adapted homes. We are determined to ensure our armed forces are recognised for their heroic efforts and helped in their transition to civilian life and getting a home."

Defence Minister Kevan Jones said:

"We are determined to ensure that our seriously injured service personnel are rewarded for their sacrifice with the best possible package of support. It is only right that they are given top priority for specially adapted homes to ensure that they and their families can live in the best possible accommodation."

Director General of The Royal British Legion Chris Simpkins said:

"Housing was a key issue for the Legion's 'Honour the Covenant' campaign, so we welcome this decision which will be of real benefit to those who have given so much for their country.

"We welcome the steady progress being made to restore balance to the Military Covenant, which this announcement signifies and which is so important for our Armed Forces."

Today's announcement forms part of the Ministry of Defence's Service Personnel Command Paper, a package of cross-Government measures designed to end disadvantage experienced by our Armed Forces, their families and veterans as a result of Service. These measures - launched by the Defence Secretary last July - include doubling compensation for injured personnel, establishing community mental health schemes across the UK to provide specialist care for veterans and improving access to education for Service leavers.

Shapps launches radical new housing policies

Grant Shapps has set out a series of radical new housing policies that will promote social opportunity and neighbourhood pride.

The measures, outlined in a major new policy paper, will provide England’s four million social tenants with genuine social mobility, and will restore pride to rundown housing estates by helping to encourage social responsibility.

The paper, entitled ‘Strong Foundations’, will also ensure that local homes are built for local people, with the community – not bureaucrats in Whitehall – having the final say on the homes they want.

The proposals include:

• Rewards for good behaviour - tenants with a record of five years’ good tenant behaviour will be offered a 10% equity share in their social rented property, giving them a direct financial stake in the state of their neighbourhood
• A ‘Right to Move’ - a comprehensive national mobility scheme that will allow good tenants to move to other social sector properties
• Supporting the low-cost housing sector – measures will include strengthening shared ownership schemes so that those on intermediate incomes can part-own their home
• Local Housing Trusts - villages and towns will be able to create entirely new community-led bodies with planning powers to develop local homes for local people, provided there is strong community backing
• Breaking the monopoly on empty government property - local people will have new powers to demand the selling of empty or under-used government property
• Stopping the Whitehall imposition of unwanted development - regional planning will be scrapped, enabling councils to revise their plans to protect Green Belt land and prevent the unwanted imposition of so-called eco-towns

Grant, the Shadow Housing Minister, said, “In the 1980s, the Conservative ‘Right to Buy’ gave the opportunity for millions of families to get onto the housing ladder and transformed housing estates by creating mixed communities. Thirty years on, we will build on this.”

And he stressed, “We need social housing that promotes opportunity and social mobility, rather than reinforcing welfare dependency. And we need a compassionate housing policy that recognises the need to house the vulnerable and tackle the soaring waiting lists under Labour.”

David Cameron added, “Houses are not really like every other investment. While houses may have a price, homes have a value. We need to kick our addiction to house price volatility and concentrate on making sure we build enough homes so that every community can meet its housing needs.”

Download 'Strong Foundations', our housing policy paper

Markets alone cannot provide adequate housing for all, says UN expert

The over-reliance on private home ownership that contributed to the sub-prime mortgage crisis and the subsequent global financial meltdown highlights the need to view housing through the lens of human rights and not just as a commodity, the United Nations independent expert on adequate housing said today.

"While political discussions are ongoing, I believe it is important to consider the linkage of the crisis with human rights, especially to look at the causes of the crisis and avoid repeating the same mistakes in any new national and global agenda," said Special Rapporteur Raquel Rolnik, who presented a report to the Human Rights Council on the financial crisis, its causes and its relation to the right to adequate housing.

"One of the fundamental errors has been to consider housing only as a commodity and an investment asset," she told the 47-member body in Geneva, underscoring that that the provision of adequate housing for all can not be left solely in the hands of private housing and financial capital markets.

As private loans and mortgages were the only option open to most people who needed a place to live, Ms. Rolnik noted that "credits were attributed by the private sector to households that – in normal circumstances – would not be eligible for loans."

As a result, not only did private companies' risk increase, but also "low-income households were made even more vulnerable to economic and financial changes," she added.

In her report, the expert also argued that the reduction in the amount of public housing made available by the State had a significant impact on people in need of affordable accommodation, especially those that could not afford market prices and mortgages.

She noted that rapid increases in the price of housing led to excessive borrowing and the ensuing expansion of the financial system.

"The 'biggest bubble in history' was foreseen, but little or nothing was done by Governments to prevent it," Ms. Rolnik, an architect and urban planner with extensive experience in the area of housing and urban policies, said in a press release.

Since the so-called bubble has burst, the financial crisis has resulted in housing becoming even less affordable for many people around the world, she noted.

"It is a blunt reminder that it is not just the poor, but also low- and increasingly middle-income groups, who find it difficult to raise enough money to buy or rent adequate housing," said Ms. Rolnik.

"I believe that the current crisis represents an opportunity for reflection, and to consider how to improve housing systems, policies and programmes so as to ensure adequate housing to all."
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