Pensions from council staff could fund 300,000 homes a year

Published by 24publishing for 24dash.com in Housing and also in Development, Finance, Local Government

A commission set up by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has concluded that six million new homes could be built across Britain in the next 20 years - and that they could be funded with the pension savings of more than four million council staff.

The commission's report says that £10bn in council pension funds can be utilised to drive the huge building project.

It concluded that the country needs to see a three-fold increase in the number of houses being built, to over 300,000 a year.

The report says: "Britain needs a revolution in the scale, quality and funding of home building if we are to have any hope of meeting the housing needs of our growing and changing population. The challenge is not just to increase the number and standard of homes being built for many years to come, but to develop communities which enhance the quality of life for both new residents and existing communities nearby. All this can happen without additional government funding."

The report claims that "in the interests of local taxpayers and those who need housing, the Local Government Association must demonstrate leadership in getting local authority pension funds to invest in housing and associated infrastructure".

It goes on to say that the "15 largest funds and other relevant bodies should work together to commission research into the case for setting up an independently managed £10 billion Local Housing Development Fund to finance local developments of mixed-tenure housing, looking at the potential returns, risks to be managed, structure and governance arrangements".