£450 million approved for over 11,700 new and affordable homes » Housing » 24dash.com

The Homes and Communities Agency today confirmed that it has finished a thorough assessment of the 270 stalled housing schemes shortlisted to receive funding under the Kickstart Programme. A total of 91 schemes have been approved for funding, with another 63 approved subject to conditions being met or requiring further consideration.

As a result £207 million will now be allocated to directly fund 6,618 new and affordable homes. A further £241 million could be allocated for 5,144 homes, to those schemes which have been approved subject to conditions.

Eighty-one schemes were either withdrawn by the developer because of the need to complete homes by March 2011, or because they no longer felt the need for public sector support. Of those which were withdrawn, over half have been resubmitted for funding under Kickstart Round 2, where the timescale for the completion of homes is longer.

Thirty-five schemes were not approved for funding as they did not meet the HCA’s robust criteria for the Programme, particularly on design and value for money grounds.

Chief executive of the HCA, Sir Bob Kerslake said: “I am delighted that the HCA has been able to play such a major role in unlocking key housing schemes across the country.

“The due diligence process has been a thorough and challenging one for all involved but I am pleased that so many good schemes have been confirmed. We now look forward to completing the contracts and getting starts on site.”

Funding has been allocated to schemes in every English region, including 22 in the West Midlands and 16 in the South West; and 77 of the approved schemes will offer apprenticeships or local labour initiatives. In total an employment dividend of around 1,300 apprenticeships or local labour initiatives could potentially be achieved through the Kickstart Programme as a whole.

The HCA has also confirmed that it has received over 660 bids for funding under Kickstart Round 2. These schemes, which could unlock up to 55,000 homes, will now be subject to the same level of scrutiny as the successful schemes under Round 1.