Prisk urges social landlords to build private homes
The new housing minister will call on social landlords to help build homes for private rent in his first speech in the role.
Mark Prisk will urge landlords to ‘take that leap of faith’ and bid to take advantage of a £10 billion government guarantee scheme whether for social or private rented homes.
In a speech this evening at the National Housing Federation’s annual conference Mr Prisk will say: ‘Housing associations already provide excellent services to their tenants, but have the potential to offer homes to a much wider group of people.
‘By making the most of the new and positive measures we’re taking, social landlords can branch out and provide the spark to get Britain building.’
His speech follows Sir Adrian Montague’s independent review into encouraging institutional investment into the private rented sector last month, which suggested waiving affordable housing requirements for developments of homes for private rent.
The government announced earlier this month £10 billion of a £50 billion government guarantee scheme would support housing loans. Along with this pot, it pledged to introduce legislation where the Planning Inspectorate could overrule local authority decisions asking for affordable housing commitments through section 106 agreements if it could be proved this was holding up development.
The government also agreed to spend £300 million of capital funding to build 15,000 affordable homes and bring 5,000 empty homes back into use to compensate for the loss of the homes through the legislation, and announced a separate £200 million fund for private rented sector homes.
Mr Prisk will talk this evening about a Thames Valley Housing Association scheme called ‘Fizzy Living’, which offers newly-built flats for rent on the open market in London’s east end.
The government expects the initiatives announced on 6 September, including the £10 billion guarantee, to deliver 70,000 new homes and 140,000 new jobs.
