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Government announces extra £6m for community-led housing
Housing minister Kit Malthouse has announced a £6m fund for community-led housing amid calls for certainty over the sector’s main funding stream.
The Community Led Homes Programme will be managed by four housing charities and provide funding to support individuals or groups seeking to develop their own local housing schemes.
It comes as a major industry group warned that community-led homes in the pipeline could go unfinished unless the government extends the deadline to its Community Housing Fund.
The £300m fund, which will run alongside the latest funding, was initially expected to run over five years when it was launched in November 2016. However following delays, bidding opened last July and will close the end of 2019.
The government expects the community-led housing sector to supply more than 5,000 homes in the next five years.
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Through the £6m announced today – which will be committed over two years if the project meets its targets – community groups will be granted up to £10,000 to cover the start-up costs of their developments such as legal fees.
Government will also fund training and advice for groups hoping to start developing with £3.5m from the fund.
Mr Malthouse said: “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.”
Samantha Jones, head of the Community Led Homes Programme, said: “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 to 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 Homes will be run in partnership between the National Community Land Trust Network, the Confederation of Co-operative Housing, UK Cohousing and Locality.
