Councils and registered social landlords could bid against each other for £3.3bn of social housing grant under plans unveiled by John Prescott.

The plan being considered by the deputy prime minister would give three-star councils access to the Housing Corporation fund for 2006/7 and 2007/8 – expected to be a total of £3.3bn. However, the ODPM and the corporation are still thrashing out the details.

Jon Rouse, chief executive of the Housing Corporation, said: “The detail is still to be worked out as to whether associations and local authorities could bid against each other for general funds from us, but yes, it is possible in theory.”

It had been assumed Prescott’s olive branch to high-performing councils would take the form of allowing them to bid for the £200m corporation pot earmarked for a competition between “non-RSLs” and arm’s-length management organisations in February next year.

However, this move and the confirmation of an extra £500m in private finance initiative funding is unlikely to placate councils such as Camden, which have exhausted the existing options.

Jane Roberts, leader of Camden, said: “A central London authority like Camden would not be in a position to build great swathes of homes so it doesn’t help us with our predicament.”

In his speech on Sunday Prescott also made a widely expected pledge to help first-time buyers and low-paid workers become homeowners.

The plan would involve challenging housebuilders to build a two-bedroom house for less than £60,000 and then selling them at prices well below the

market rate in return for free land from regeneration quango English Partnerships.

Source

Housing Today