The communities secretary today announced housing providers will now be able to apply for a share of a £7bn affordable housing fund.
Local authorities, housing associations and private developers can access the funding as part of the Government’s push to deliver more affordable housing across the country.
In last year’s Autumn Statement, £1.4bn of the cash was allocated in order to deliver 40,000 new affordable housing starts across the country.
Sajid Javid also announced today Whitehall is expanding the variety of tenures available under the affordable housing programme. These include affordable rent, shared ownership and rent to buy.
He added the latter will be let with rents set at or below 80% of the local market rent for a set time period, giving tenants the opportunity to save for a deposit and then the option to buy their current home.
‘Our newly expanded affordable housing programme, turbo-charged by a multi-billion pound investment, will allow housing associations to build more homes in places where they are most needed, particularly for families who are just about managing,’ said Mr Javid.
‘By encouraging the delivery of more homes under a variety of tenures, we can create a housing market which truly works for everyone, meeting the diverse housing needs of this country.’
