Pound for pound: infrastructure next steps
The Chancellor has announced the Communities and Local Government budget in the comprehensive spending review which includes support for the building of three million new homes by 2020.
Towards this ambition, the settlement delivers:
· £6.5 billion investment over three years in new social housing to deliver 45,000 new social homes per year by 2010-11, a 50 per cent increase compared with 2007-08, with a goal of reaching 50,000 per year during the next spending review period;
· £1.7 billion over three years targeted funding for infrastructure in growth areas, the Thames Gateway, new growth points and eco towns, including a £300 million Community Infrastructure Fund; and
· £500 million over three years for the new Housing and Planning Delivery Grant, to incentivise local authorities to increase housing supply and help bring forward local development frameworks.
The social homes will mainly be delivered by housing associations, and David Orr, chief executive of the National Housing Federation, said: Housing associations will match this public investment more than pound for pound with private finance and their own reserves to deliver the homes our country desperately needs.