Communities across the country are set to benefit from a £6m funding boost to help local groups build more of the homes that their area needs, as well as training and advice to help them kick-start local housing developments, Housing Minister Kit Malthouse MP has announced.
The Community Led Homes Programme — managed by four leading housing charities — will provide local people with funding to kick-start community-led housing developments that will benefit their neighbourhood. Funding of up to £10,000 will be provided to groups to cover start-up costs such as legal fees, and a further £3.5m will be made available to provide technical advice and support to guide communities through the process of building the housing they urgently need.
The news is part of a wider, comprehensive package of measures to increase local housebuilding, and builds on ongoing government action to reach the ambitious target of 300,000 properties a year by the mid-2020s.
Housing Minister Kit Malthouse MP said: “For too long, governments of all stripes have failed to build the homes our country needs, but we are turning that around.
“Last year we delivered over 222,000 homes but we need to deliver more good quality properties, and the community-led housing programme will help us do just that. Alongside £6m of funding, the programme will also provide crucial training and advice to local groups, ensuring that we are not just building better homes but also building better communities.”
Head of Community Led Homes Samantha Jones added: “Communities want to play their part in tackling the country’s affordable housing crisis and many are forming community led housing groups to do so. In the next five years the movement will build over 5,000 affordable homes. We’ve created the Community Led Homes programme to help this figure increase further still, and in time, for community led housing to become a mainstream housing option.”
Community-led housing enables communities of all shapes and forms to take the lead in building and renovating homes, helping people to come together to solve their own housing challenges and build high-quality, affordable homes.
The new programme will strengthen the vital role that community-led housing can play in delivering much-needed affordable housing, helping the sector to play its part in getting Britain building and delivering the homes our country needs.
This latest funding comes just weeks after the Mayor of London announced his own £38m Community Housing Fund. Sadiq Khan has pledged to support 1,000 community led homes in the capital by 2021.
Samantha Jones, Head of Community Led Homes, commented: “Communities want to play their part in tackling the country’s affordable housing crisis and many are forming community led housing groups to do so. In the next five years the movement will build over 5,000 affordable homes. We’ve created the Community Led Homes programme to help this figure increase further still, and in time, for community led housing to become a mainstream housing option.
“This programme is the culmination of a huge amount of work from the four organisations involved and demonstrates our belief that in partnership we can support more communities to imagine and realise the affordable housing they so desperately need. Together we are committed to building a lasting legacy for community led housing.”
More information about the programme, including how to apply for a grant, can be found at www.communityledhomes.org.uk.
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