Yahoo Finance Another £500m promised to affordable housing projects in England
Almost £500m will go towards building desperately-needed affordable homes in England, the UK government has announced.
Housing associations from Essex to Eccleston will receive a share of £497m to build a total of about 11,000 new properties, including ones for social rent.
The UK is currently facing its biggest housing shortfall on record, with a backlog of almost four million homes, according to research by Heriot-Watt University. This means 340,000 new homes need to be built every year until 2031.
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The funding boost will help the government as it strives to build 300,000 new properties every year by the mid-2020s.
Potential partnerships between the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG) and housing associations will be agreed upon by Homes England, which funds affordable housing across the country.
The housing associations will then have the freedom to spend the money on developments where they can have the biggest impact.
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This is the third wave of strategic partnerships between the MHCLG and housing associations. The previous wave was part of the 2018 Budget.
Housing associations Bromford, Curo & Swan, Liverpool Mutual Homes & Torus, Longhurst & Nottingham Community Housing Association, Together, Walsall Housing Group, and Yorkshire and Your Housing Group will all benefit from this round of funding.
Alongside this, homes will be built on London rooftops after Homes England agreed upon a £9m three-year funding deal with real estate developer Apex Airspace Developments.
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Apex is a pioneer of “airspace” development, where unused airspace above residential, commercial, and public buildings is used as a location for new homes.
The properties — which will be built in Tooting, Wanstead, Walthamstow, Putney, and Wallington — will largely be constructed off-site before being winched on top of buildings, minimising disruption to residents, according to the MHCLG.
The first of the homes will be completed by this summer, with a total of 78 rooftop homes built over three years. The project is being funded from the government’s £4.5bn Home Building Fund.
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“By providing targeted investment in affordable homes, and funding innovative projects to build rooftop properties, we are making our housing market work for everyone,” communities secretary James Brokenshire said.
“Our £500m funding boost for housing associations will help them build thousands of extra affordable homes — including properties for social rent.
“These measures are all part of our plans to deliver 300,000 homes a year by the mid-2020s.”
