New agency to deliver affordable housing

Govt committed to 240,000 new homes a year

Wednesday, 07, Nov 2007 12:00

Gordon Brown continued to stress his commitment to housing in yesterday's Queen Speech, with measures designed to increase the supply of housing and build the infrastructure needed to support communities.

Yesterday's Queen Speech confirmed the government will introduce a housing and regeneration bill in the forthcoming parliamentary session. This will bring forward the 240,000 new homes a year the government has promised to build by 2016.

To ensure local infrastructure is in place to support new communities, a planning bill will also be introduced to streamline the application process for major projects.

Central to the housing bill is the creation of a new agency to deliver affordable housing.

It will create a housing and communities agency, which will have powers to release surplus land for housing use.

The Home Builders Federation (HBF) has said the government must focus on land supply to meet housing needs.

HBF executive chairman Stewart Baseley said the measures in the Queen's Speech were a long overdue recognition of the scale of the challenge.

"Above all, we now need to unlock the land needed to build the homes on the scale required across the country," he said.

Communities secretary Hazel Blears explained the proposed bills would make it easier for councils and housing associations to build more homes.

Ms Blears said: "This government believes that everyone deserves a place they can be proud to call home, in communities where people have the power to influence those things that matter to them most.

"We want to empower citizens to shape their own lives and the services they receive - and one of the most powerful areas for this type of community empowerment is social housing."

Shelter has welcomed the new agency, but the homeless charity warns the key test for the government will be to deliver housing on the ground.

Adam Sampson, Shelter's chief executive, said: "There is a dire shortage of homes throughout the country, so we welcome the creation of this new agency as the government's first step in delivering three million homes by 2020.

"But although the government can legislate for change, it's now up to other bodies like local authorities, developers, planners and housing associations to start delivering on the ground."

Housing minister Yvette Cooper argued the bills show how serious the government is about delivering new homes, claiming it is putting "unprecedented investment" into new and affordable housing.

Ms Cooper continued: "New homes will be greener to tackle the challenge of climate change, with world-beating environmental standards. We're building the first new towns for several generations, with ten new eco-towns across the country.

"But this must be a shared endeavour - between government, councils, developers and local communities. If we don't act now, we're letting down future first-time buyers."

Ministers confirmed yesterday they have received more than 50 applications for eco-towns, which will mark the first new towns for nearly half a century.