New ADP fund will deliver 4000 homes in the South-east, including 1000 prefabs
Housing minister Lord Rooker this week announced a special £200m "Challenge Fund" to tackle the housing crisis in the south of England.

The fund forms part of the Housing Corporation's £1.29bn budget for next year's approved development programme.

The figure is an increase of £365m on last year's ADP announcement, although it is only marginally higher than the level of allocation for 2003/04 that was predicted in the July 2000 spending review.

The Challenge Fund is expected to deliver 4000 homes, of which one-quarter will be prefabricated. It is expected that the government will demand that a fifth of these homes are completed by the end of March 2004.

Rooker said: "The cash injection represents the beginning of a significant step change in the delivery of social housing as outlined last July. We are determined to reform and deliver housing where it is most needed."

It is understood that bids for the £200m Challenge Fund will have to be with the Housing Corporation by 18 October. The corporation will then make proposals to the ODPM by early November.

The cash injection represents the beginning of a significant step change in the delivery of social housing

Housing minister Lord Rooker

It is understood that the ODPM will strongly favour bids that include contributions from employers. This is expected to take the form either of land from public sector employers such as the NHS, or cash payments from private firms who employ key workers.

Elements of the fund include:

  • half of the homes built must be normal social housing
  • the other half must be intermediate projects such as low-cost home ownership and the Starter Home Initiative
  • money will only available for projects in London, the south-east and east of England, Dorset, Wiltshire and Gloucester
  • councils will be expected to use planning powers to deliver new homes.

The government hopes to see 22,700 homes built, including 1600 affordable homes in rural areas, as well as help deliver 8000 new homes for key public-sector workers.

It is expected that the ADP will rise to £1.7bn by 2005/06 and that deputy prime minister John Prescott will announce an additional £500m for a housing market renewal fund in January.

This fund is set to run from April 2003 over three years.

Source

Housing Today