Healey puts £500k into regional allocations schemes
Housing minister John Healey has allocated more than £500,000 to set up regional and sub-regional choice based lettings schemes.
The investment will expand the initiative, which allows social tenants to apply for properties rather than being allocated them, beyond individual local authority areas.
The money comes from the fifth round of choice based lettings funding, and brings the total invested in the scheme between 2005 and 2010 to more than £7 million. The successful bidders are listed below.
Mr Healey said: ‘Thanks to this funding more councils and housing associations will be able to offer their tenants more choice in where they want to live beyond the traditional boundaries.
‘These schemes mean that local authorities have another tool to manage their waiting lists more effectively, by ensuring each home is matched to tenants more suited to the property.’
The Communities and Local Government department recently produced guidance for local authorities to help them ensure fairness in the allocations systems and clampdown on housing cheats, he added.
More than 80 per cent of local authorities across England now have a choice based lettings scheme in place or in development, according to CLG figures.
The government’s aim is for all local authorities to adopt a choice based lettings scheme year.
Liberal Democrat housing spokeswoman Sarah Teather said: ‘After years of ignoring social housing, the government’s neglect is strangling the job market. But a few house swaps is not going to deal with the misery faced by millions of families stuck on housing waiting lists.
‘People don’t want a house swap with someone on the other side of the country, they need a home where they already live and have family and work connections.
‘As usual, Labour and the Conservatives are tinkering at the edges of the problem rather than taking radical action to improve things.’
The successful bidders:
East Midlands
Leicestershire and Rutland: Introduction of CBL across Blaby; Charnwood; Hinkley and Bosworth; Melton; North West Leicestershire; Oadby and Wigston and Rutland; and joining together with Harborough (one of the country’s first CBL schemes) to create a county-wide scheme.
North West
Cumbria: Extension of the scheme funded in rounds three and four to include Allerdale and Barrow-in-Furness
Lancaster:Introduction of CBL across the Lancaster area
Pennine Lancashire: Extension of the scheme funded in round three to include Burnley
Merseyside: Extension to the Merseyside scheme adding Sefton and Halton to the partnership
Yorkshire and Humberside
North Yorkshire: Extension of the scheme funded in the third and fourth rounds of the RCF to include Craven and Richmondshire
South East
Kent: Extension of this scheme funded in round one to include Medway
Hampshire Home Choice: Extension of the scheme funded in round one to include Test Valley
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Readers' comments (1)
B.S. Townroe | 22/01/2010 7:35 am
Ms. Teather, does someone feed you these lines or do you make them up all by yourself?
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