Government departments and agencies promise to sell land for 102,000 homes

The Homes and Communities Agency has published details of 112 development sites it is planning to put on the market in the next year as part of an updated land disposal strategy published today.

The HCA also said it will now release enough of its land for 16,226 homes by 2015, an increase of almost 50% on the land for 11,000 homes it committed to release last year. The body is one of several major government land-holders to publically commit today to selling off more housing land to developers, totalling enough space for 102,000 homes by 2015.

Housing minister Grant Shapps said the commitments meant the government will meet the prime minister’s goal of building 100,000 homes on public land by 2015, and it would now try to go further.

“Government is one of the country’s biggest landowners - it’s only right that we make the best use of our assets,” he said. “We’re already on track to smash the prime minister’s ambition to release previously-used public land for housing. But we’re not stopping there - I’m determined to continue looking for more sites suitable for housebuilding.”

The HCA’s land disposal strategy outlines which sites will be brought forward when, and how the body will decide whether or not to procure development partners through its Developer Partner Panel. As well as describing 112 development sites it will market in 2012/3, the land disposal strategy highlights a further 28 sites that will be put on the market from 2013/14 onwards.

The strategy also confirms the HCA is looking to sell the bulk of its development land portfolio in Milton Keynes to the local council.

Other major contributors to the 102,000 homes on public land include the Ministry of Defence and the Department of Health, contributing 37% and 16% respectively. However, Building understands the use of the MoD land, the largest single landholder, was subject to the outcome of further strategic reviews of the future shape of the MoD.

The HCA’s land disposal strategy is available here, and its pipeline is available here.

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