Government confirms £350 million funding for housing Pathfinder regions

Published by Jon Land for 24dash.com in Housing

Housing Minister Iain Wright today confirmed that almost £350 million will be made available in the next financial year through the Homes and Communities Agency to help regenerate local housing markets and restore confidence in communities in twelve key areas of the country.

The nine "Pathfinder" schemes and three areas of wider low demand are to receive £311m from April 1 to fund their work refurbishing properties, to improve the quality of housing stock and bringing people and services back into areas which had become disconnected with their neighbouring communities.

In addition, further funding of up to £35m will be made available to the schemes during the year if they fully meet their performance targets for delivery and show strong progress in delivering real change in communities.

Iain Wright said: "The Pathfinders scheme is making a big difference in transforming local communities and housing markets in areas in need of regeneration. We remain committed to the programme - we are investing more than £2 billion in those areas over 10 years.

"Pathfinders have built up significant intelligence on housing markets in their areas, and this will prove invaluable in helping to stimulate the local economy.

"In difficult economic times, it is vital that we focus more on achieving value for money for the taxpayer. Basing part of the Pathfinders' funding on their performance over the year provides a real incentive for these organisations to ensure they are focussed on delivering the maximum benefits for their local communities."

Director of Investment and Renewal at the HCA, Richard Hill, said: "HMR Pathfinders are the best means for leading the response to tough housing market conditions in their locations.

"They are well placed to do this and we have seen significant achievements already in areas such as obtaining better value for public money, supporting first time buyers, investing in neighbourhood management and developing asset backed joint ventures."

Richard Parker, partner and head of housing, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP said: "This policy programme is targeted at areas experiencing low demand when the rest of the economy was experiencing the complete opposite. This funding will help secure the achievements made to date.

"For this to be successful, Government will need to fund physical infrastructure and align this new funding to the supply of housing grant to support new affordable housing.

"Equally importantly, the training and education programmes that will help secure employment opportunities will also need consideration. This will not be easy."

The areas to benefit from today's funding announcement are:

Birmingham Sandwell
East Lancashire
Hull and East Riding
Manchester Salford
Merseyside
Newcastle Gateshead
North Staffordshire
Oldham
Rochdale
South Yorkshire
Tees Valley
West Cumbria