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Government launches £4m Community Housing Fund

A £4m grant programme has been launched by the government to fund community-led schemes for affordable housing.

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Picture: Getty
Picture: Getty
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A £4m grant programme has been launched by the government to fund community-led schemes for affordable housing #UKhousing

The money is intended to help meet costs associated with pre-development such as legal advice, design work and planning applications.

Ministers have not said how many new homes they hope to be supported through the fund.

The government previously ran a £163m Community Housing Fund, but it closed at the end of 2019 with only a fraction allocated following long delays in opening the bidding.

Housing minister Christopher Pincher said: “Community-led housing is about local people playing a leading and lasting role in solving their housing problems, creating genuinely affordable homes and strong communities where mainstream house builders are unable to deliver.

“The Community Housing Fund has been set up to support housing schemes that are truly community-led and will last for generations to come, helping ensure we build back better.”


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The announcement follows the publication over the weekend of a government-commissioned review of self and custom build by Conservative MP Richard Bacon.

Among his recommendations, Mr Bacon said ministers should “reignite” the Community Housing Fund.

Community-led housing involves local groups forming community land trusts or housing co-operatives to deliver new homes which remain under their control.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) cited as an example the Granby Four Streets group, which has rebuilt an area of Toxteth in Liverpool by refurbishing derelict homes for affordable tenures and discounted market sale.

The programme will be managed by the Community Led Homes (CLH) partnership, which is made up of the Confederation of Co-Operative Housing, Locality, the National Community Land Trust Network and the UK Cohousing Network.

Applications opened on 23 August and remain open until 31 December. It could close before then if all funds are allocated.

All work funded must be completed by March 2022.

To apply, groups will need to complete an eligibility checker, with MHCLG describing the fund as “not suitable for groups who are just forming or are at an early stage of pre-development”.

Tony Armstrong, chief executive of Locality and part of the CLH, said: “It is well known that there is a shortage of genuinely affordable, high-quality housing in England.

“We believe community-led housing can, and should, play a central role in solving this problem. The CLH partnership is proud to be managing this programme on behalf of MHCLG.”

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