The government has announced it is allocating £25m to support councils in nine areas earmarked for radical experiments in tackling unpopular housing and low demand.
The funding could be boosted when Whitehall outlines its spending plans in the summer, DTLR secretary Stephen Byers hinted last week.

This could mean the sector will finally be granted its wish for a long-term, multi-billion-pound fund to turn around ailing housing markets.

The money, which has come from the Treasury's annual Capital Modernisation Fund, will be used to help councils develop "robust schemes" to kickstart housing markets. Last month the DTLR announced nine "pathfinder" areas, each covering 40,000 to 120,000 homes, where pilot strategies will be carried out.

They are Greater Manchester, Merseyside, East Lancashire, Oldham and Rochdale, South Yorkshire, Hull, Tyneside, Stoke, and Birmingham and Sandwell (Housing Today, 18 April).

This covers around 720,000 of the 880,000 homes the DTLR estimates to be affected by low demand.

Each council will receive £2.66m to support a strategic plan to inform future investment.

Byers added that additional money for the pathfinders could be made available in July's Comprehensive Spending Review.

Councils in the nine areas will have to form the pathfinders and choose which bodies and landlords to work with, but the relevant regional development agency, regional planning body, local strategic partnership and the Housing Corporation must be represented.

The South Yorkshire pathfinder is a partnership between Sheffield and neighbouring authorities Doncaster, Rotherham and Barnsley to develop a 10 to 15 year programme for its housing market.

Liverpool council welcomed the news. Last week's allocation will help tackle the city's 18,000 empty homes with initiatives such as the demolition of more than 10,000 homes over the next 20 years as part of the Merseyside pilot, it said.

The East Lancashire councils are due to meet the DTLR this week to discuss the pathfinder area's exact boundaries.

Source

Housing Today