Councils to share £510 million 'to speed up delivery of new housing'

Councils will receive a share of new £510 million grant to speed up the delivery of new housing and ensure that suitable land is available to support the long term housing market, Housing and Planning Minister Caroline Flint has announced.

The Housing and Planning Delivery Grant will provide a direct incentive for councils to ensure that new homes are built where they are needed.
It is an additional top up to mainstream funding and councils can choose how to spend it locally.

This will also help the housebuilding industry giving them greater certainty that suitable land will be available for development over future years, particularly as the housing market recovers from current economic challenges.

A lack of suitable development land is often cited as the reason for blockage in the delivery of new homes.

Councils are now required to identify at least five years worth of suitable sites ready for housing and a further 10 years worth for future development.

While many councils are delivering good quality homes quickly, some are failing to properly identify land for the homes their communities need.
This new incentive will ensure that all councils are taking action now.

Caroline Flint also announced that the Government will bring forward proposals for an additional element to incentivise the delivery of affordable housing from 2010-11, the third year of the grant.

She will also keep the allocations under review to ensure they continue to support a stronger long term housing market in every area of the country.

Caroline Flint said: "We are determined to continue to do everything possible to promote long-term stability and fairness in the housing market. The international credit crunch has created significant challenges not just for the UK housing market, but in other parts of Europe and the United States.

"However, the long term need to provide more homes has not gone away. We have a growing and ageing population and will only see worsening affordability unless we increase housing supply."

This grant will be awarded to those councils which speed up delivery, deliver against their housing plans to meet local needs and meet agreed 'development timetables' to speed up new housing.

The timetables will commit councils to set out clear and ambitious plans on the number and type of homes needed in a local area, including family homes; and identify banks of deliverable land suitable for new homes.