Housing stimulus fund three times oversubscribed
Author: Jamie Carpenter, Planning Magazine - Feb 16, 2012
In a statement issued yesterday, Shapps said that the Get Britain Building Fund – announced in the coalition’s housing strategy last November – has seen a total of 176 expressions of interest – "meaning the programme is now three times oversubscribed".
A spokesman for housing and regeneration quango the Homes & Communities Agency said that the total value of the bids received was around £1.3 billion – over three times more than the £420 million available through the fund.
The HCA, which administers the fund, announced earlier this month that 18 projects were set to be the first to receive cash through the new programme.
It said that up to £46 million could be allocated to the 18 schemes subject to due diligence and contracts being signed.
The Department for Communities and Local Government said that a "short, simple and straightforward application process has made it easier for smaller building companies, as well as larger developers, to bid for funding".
Shapps: "I am greatly encouraged by the clamour from developers large and small to get Britain building by applying for a share of our £420 million fund to unlock stalled sites across the country."
The news comes as official figures out today revealed that housing starts in England had risen slightly in the final quarter of 2011.
According to the figures, published by the DCLG, there were 25,240 housing starts in the final three months of 2011 – up six per cent compared to the previous quarter.
Housing starts in the final three months of 2011 were also up 9.5 per cent on the same quarter in 2010, when work began on 23,040 homes.
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